Don’t expect Fortnite to return to the App Store until 2021...

As many of you have likely heard, there is a legal battle underway between Apple and Epic Games over Fortnite. Epic Games filed a preliminary application with the court against Apple’s removal of Fortnite from the App Store, but Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers rejected her request.

What this means is that if you are hoping for Fortnite to return to the App Store soon, you may have to wait until 2021 at the earliest. This is because the next trial date has been set for May of next year, and assuming things are not delayed any further, 2021 is the earliest time we can see Fortnite return to the App Store.

It is possible that Apple and Epic Games will reach some kind of agreement between now and then, but this is not yet clear. However, the Epic Games filing a lawsuit against Apple opened a door that had been closed over the past years. This step by Epic Games encouraged other companies and regulators around the world to dig deeper into the laws and regulations imposed by the company. Apple is asking developers in the App Store to determine whether the latter enforces anti-competitive practices.

Epic Games has also managed to round up a number of developers alongside it, which has led to the formation of the “Coalition of App Fairness”. This means that even if Apple and Epic Games can settle their dispute, this incident could be the catalyst that could lead to more lawsuits from other developers dissatisfied with Apple App Store tactics.