The battle between Apple and Epic is far from over, despite a court ruling earlier this month

In other words, Apple will not reinstate Epic's developer account, nor will Fortnite return to iOS anytime soon

The initial ruling was both a win and a loss for both sides The court ruled that Apple could not prevent app developers from linking to outside payment systems, which was a victory for Epic However, the ruling also declared that Apple does not have a monopoly on mobile games, that it has the right to collect fees through in-app purchases, and that the original agreement between the two companies is valid and enforceable In other words, Epic willfully breached it

Epic appealed the ruling, but CEO Tim Sweeney sent a letter to Phil Schiller, the Apple executive in charge of the App Store, stating that Epic's payment had been voided server-side, that he had followed the court order and paid Apple 6 million dollars and promised that the company would "comply with Apple's guidelines whenever and wherever we release products on Apple's platform"

In return, Epic asked Apple to reinstate the developer accounts that were suspended last year The goal was to bring Fortnite back to the Mac and restore Unreal Engine testing and development to the iOS version of the game Apple immediately refused

"Epic committed an intentional breach of contract and breach of trust by withholding code from Apple and making related misrepresentations and omissions," stated the letter sent by Apple's legal representatives In its decision, the court stated, 'Apple had a contractual right to act as it did; Apple merely exercised that right as Epic Games expected it to do'

This, and Tim Sweeney's statement that "Epic 'is not going to trade [an alternative payment system] to bring Fortnite back to iOS,'" led Apple to decide not to restore Epic's developer accounts The company also confirmed that it "will not consider any further requests for reinstatement until the district court's ruling is final and cannot be appealed"

Tim Sweeney's tweet declared this to be a "loss for fair competition and consumer choice," apparently unpopular at Epic Sweeney also noted that the appeal process could take as long as five years Sweeney Sweeney also attacked Apple, accusing Epic of lying about bringing Fortnite back to the App Store if it plays by the same rules as others

Epic vowed to keep fighting, declaring that "the need for regulatory and legislative action has never been clearer" For the time being, however, Apple has every legal right to deny Epic access to its platform Whether it agrees to that action is another matter