Apple Inc. was spared from having to immediately reinstate Epic Games Inc.’s Fortnite on its App Store, an early court victory for the iPhone-maker in an intensifying battle over the tolls charged to app-makers.
But U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’s ruling late Monday wasn’t a total loss for Epic, as she granted the company’s request for a temporary order blocking Apple from limiting the game developer’s ability to provide Unreal Engine, key graphics technology, for other apps.
The mixed ruling comes as Apple faces a backlash from some app developers who say its standard App Store fee of 30 percent and others policies are unfair and designed to benefit the iPhone-maker’s own services. The fight blew up Aug. 13 when Epic told customers it would begin offering a discounted direct purchase plan for items in Fortnite, and Apple then removed the game app, cutting off access for access for more than a billion iPhone and iPad customers.