Epic Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney said on Wednesday Apple informed the “Fortnite” owner that the video game will be blacklisted from the iPhone maker’s popular App Store for several years until all the court appeals are done.
Epic Games’ opening brief in its appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is due Dec. 12, according to a court filing and Apple’s reply is due by Jan. 20, 2022. The full appeal process could take years.
Sweeney took to Twitter on Wednesday, calling out Apple’s move and said the company will continue to fight the tech giant.
“This is another extraordinary anticompetitive move by Apple, demonstrating their power to reshape markets and choose winners and losers.” Tim Sweeney said on Twitter.
Apple confirmed the authenticity of the letter that Sweeney shared, but declined to comment further. Apple has not yet said whether it will ask for the injunction to be paused pending the appeal process.
The U.S. tech giant is facing a raft of legal and regulatory challenges to rules it forces game makers to follow, including the closely watched antitrust lawsuit brought by Epic Games.
Earlier this month, a U.S. federal judge struck down some of Apple’s App Store rules, forcing the company to allow developers to send their users to other payment systems in a partial win for Epic Games and other app makers.