It could fee sex video chtbe a long time before you get to play Fortniteon your iPhone again, kids.
In fact, it could take so long that some of you won't even technically be kids anymore.
"Apple informed Epic that Fortnitewill be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until the exhaustion of all court appeals," said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney in a thread posted to Twitter on Wednesday.
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That could be a while. As Sweeney pointed out in his tweet, the appeals process could very well take as long as five years.
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And, according to email correspondence embedded in Sweeney's tweets, the end of the appeals process would only signify that Apple would be willing to considerreversing its decision to ban Fortnite, along with Epic's entire developer account.
"Apple has exercised its discretion not to reinstate Epic’s developer program account at this time," reads an email from Apple's legal counsel. "Furthermore, Apple will not consider any further requests for reinstatement until the district court’s judgment becomes final and non-appealable."
Oof.
Fortnite, the popular free-to-play multiplayer battle royale video game, was bootedfrom the App Store by Apple more than a year ago, in August 2020. Epic Games, the game's developer, had included a way for users to purchase Fortnite's in-game currency, V-Bucks, directly from Epic.
This workaround would avoid Apple's 30 percent cut for in-app purchases. It would also break Apple's terms of service. Apple soon removedFortnite from the App Store. And when the inevitable happened, Epic Games was ready with a legal complaint, a battle the two companies have been embroiled in ever since.
Fast forward to earlier this month when a judge handed downa mixed ruling in Epic's lawsuit: Apple won as Epic was unable to prove the iPhone-maker was acting as a monopoly by forcing in-app purchases be made through their platform. Epic also had to pay Apple 30 percent of the revenue it withheld from Apple when it bypassed the in-app purchase system.
However, Epic came out on top as the judge ruled that Apple did violate laws regarding blocking developers from providing links to third-party storefronts. As a result, Apple will no longer force in-app purchases to be made through the company.
As Epic Games CEO Sweeney showed in his tweets, the company reachedout to Apple in order to reactivate its developer account, saying it would agree to Apple's new terms and work to bring Fortnite back to iOS.
According to Sweeney, Apple declined to do so and won't reconsider until the appeals process is complete. Meanwhile, Epic Games is sayingApple "lied" and "broke its promise to allowFortniteback on iOS."
Keep in mind: There's nothing compelling Apple to restore Fortnite in the App Store. The judge did rule with Apple for nine of the 10 counts. And while the one ruling in Epic's favor will have reverberations for the entire iOS developer community, it did not require that Fortnitebe restored on the App Store. Even Epic Games CEO Sweeney's own email says his company would only consider bringing the game back to iOS and that it was dependent on Apple changing its in-app purchase methods.
So, gamers will need to continue playing Forniteon platforms other than iOS and Mac for the near future...and probably the distant future as well.
Apple declined to comment on the record for this story, and Epic Games did not return Mashable's request for comment.
UPDATE: Sept. 23, 2021, 11:58 a.m. EDT Updated with additional context.
Topics Apple Fortnite Gaming iOS iPhone