Epic Games on Monday confirmed it has paid the $6 million it owed to Apple in royalties just days after it was ordered by the court. The fee covers Apple’s cut for in-game revenues collected between August 2020 and October 2020 when Epic allowed Fortnite players on iPhone and iPad to make direct purchases.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney also said that the company has asked Apple to restore its developer account.
Epic quickly settles Apple royalties bill
A U.S. judge last week ruled in favor of Apple in nine out of ten counts in its lengthy battle against Epic over the App Store. But Epic won what is considered the most important one — the one that forces Apple to allow developers to offer third-party payment methods inside their apps and games.
This was the freedom Epic was fighting for in the first place, but the company still isn’t happy with the overall outcome, which determined that the App Store was not a monopoly. Epic already confirmed it has filed an appeal against the ruling. It has now settled the $6 million it owed to Apple in royalties.
“Epic has paid Apple $6,000,000 as ordered by the court,” read the short tweet — somewhat humorously accompanied by an Apple Pay logo — posted by Sweeney on Monday. This fee covers the royalties owed to Apple for in-game content sold between August 2020 and October 2020, plus interest.
Epic wants its dev account back
In another tweet, Sweeney also confirmed that Epic has asked for its Apple developer account to be restored. The account was closed down last summer after Apple removed all Epic titles from the App Store. But it’s not completely clear what why Epic needs the account right now.
Sweeney has already confirmed Fortnite won’t return to the App Store anytime soon. Players will likely have to wait for the outcome of its appeal, and even then, Epic may decide not to bring the game back to iPhone and iPad if things do not go in its favor.
