The Unreal Engine is the real victim in all this.
According to The Verge, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has granted Epic’s restraining order against Apple, preventing them from removing Epic’s Apple Developer Program access on 28 August. The threat was made in retaliation for Epic circumventing the 30 percent pay-cut Apple receives from in-game purchases made in Fortnite and every other game in the App Store.
The court agreed that removing Epic’s developer access had the potential to cause significant harm “to both the Unreal Engine platform itself, and to the gaming industry generally”.
Epic Games and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other, but their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders.
This only applies to Unreal Engine and the developer program access, though, not Epic’s request that Fortnite be allowed back in the App Store. This is because, as Judge Rogers (and common sense) says, Epic did that to itself when it “strategically chose to breach its agreements with Apple”. The restraining order basically prevents Apple from retaliating while the trial progresses. The trial that is unlikely to begin anytime soon; with Epic suggesting they’ll need four to six months to prepare, while Apple says they’ll need 10.
I bet having that little bit of marketing propaganda all set up and ready to go seemed cute at the time…