Judge Issues Temporary Restraining Order Preventing Apple From Retaliating Against Epic Games' Unreal Engine

The Epic Games and Apple legal drama continues as the judge in the case, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, issues a temporary restraining order preventing Apple from retaliating against Epic by denying them access to developer s and tools, a move that also affected third-party companies using Epic’s Unreal Engine.

“Apple has chosen to act severely, and by doing so, has impacted non-parties, and a third-party developer ecosystem,” writes Judge Rogers. “The record shows potential significant damage to both the Unreal Engine platform itself, and to the gaming industry generally, including on both third-party developers and gamers. The public context in which this injury arises differs significantly: not only has the underlying agreement not been breached, but the economy is in dire need of increasing avenues for creativity and innovation, not eliminating them. Epic Games and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other, but their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders. Certainly, during the period of a temporary restraining order, the status quo in this regard should be maintained.”

The TRO, however, doesn’t include unbanning Fortnite from the App Store. “[. . ] With respect to Epic Games’ motion as to its games, including Fortnite, Epic Games has not yet demonstrated irreparable harm. The current predicament appears of its own making.”