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Epic Games has been awaiting Apple’s approval for Fortnite on the US iOS App Store for almost a week. Now, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is using X to exert pressure on Apple. On Thursday, he pointed out examples of Fortnite imitations currently available on the App Store and issued a direct request to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In one post, Sweeney shared screenshots of the App Store listing for a game called Fort Battle Royale Epic Shoot. The screenshot displayed a game with graphics inspired by Fortnite, but upon closer inspection, it’s evident that it isn’t the authentic Fortnite. Sweeney asked, “Hey @AppStore can we get the real Fortnite up pls?”
Shortly after, Sweeney reported that Fort Battle Royale Epic Shoot had been removed from the App Store. However, he also pointed out another Fortnite imitation, Epic Survival Battle Royale 3D, which remains available on the App Store as of this writing. (Apple has a bit of a history of permitting unofficial copies of popular games to appear on the store.)
Sweeney also replied to a post Cook made earlier in the day. “Hi Tim. How about if you let our mutual customers access Fortnite? Just a thought,” Sweeney wrote.
Shortly after the April 30th ruling in Epic Games v. Apple that blocked Apple from charging a fee on purchases made outside the App Store, Sweeney announced that Epic would bring Fortnite back to the US iOS App Store “next week.”
Epic said it submitted Fortnite to Apple on Friday, May 9th, but the app hasn’t yet been approved. (Apple’s website says that “on average, 90 percent of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours.”)
Sweeney said yesterday that the company submitted a new version because “we need to release a weekly Fortnite update with new content this Friday, and all platforms must update simultaneously.” But that updated submission still hasn’t been approved, either.
“We don’t have an update on our Fortnite submission to the App Store,” Sweeney said earlier on Thursday. “Apple has neither accepted nor rejected it. So the Friday update to Fortnite is now in jeopardy.”
It’s unclear if that last sentence means that Epic plans to delay the planned Friday Fortnite update for all platforms where Fortnite is available as a result of Apple not yet approving the update.
Apple and Epic Games didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.