A US District Court in the Northern District of California ruled Apple does not have to reinstate Fortnite to the App Store, as requested by Epic Games in a preliminary injunction. However, the court did say Apple must continue to let Epic Games operate its Unreal Engine developer account.
The decisions reflect the temporary restraining order put out in August. Epic Games has claimed that it should be given injunctive relief because it should not have to comply with an anti-competitive App Store contract, but the court has rejected this argument multiple times because Epic Games deliberately breached its contract with Apple and caused Fortnite to be banned.
Apple and Epic Games are not expected back in court before May 2021, MacRumors said, which means Fortnite fans will be without access to the game on Apple's devices at least until that time. Apple terminated the Fortnite developer account in August.
Apple told Bloomberg that it was “grateful” to the court for its decision.
