A judge in the epic fight against Epic v. Apple has rejected any hope that Fortnite will be allowed back in the App Store soon. As reported by Verge, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers today rejected Epic's preliminary injunction, which allegedly forced Apple to reinstate the game during the lawsuit.

In short, the Court finds that, on the basis of the case before it, Winter Factors object to the granting of a preliminary order based on Epic Games' claims in respect of Fortnite and other games and in favor of granting a preliminary order while Epic Affiliates developer tools, including in terms of Unreal Engine.

The most recent decision reflects a previous decision taken during a hearing for a temporary restraining order. Although Epic was rejected by its developer account request, the ruling does not apply to Epic and Unreal Engine affiliate accounts.

Therefore, APPLE AND ALL PERSONS IN ACTIVE CONCERT OR PARTICIPATION WITH APPLE, HAVE PRELIMINARY APPROVED to take adverse action against Epic affiliates with respect to the restriction, suspension or termination of Epic affiliates in the Apple Developer Program, based on the fact that Epic Games has enabled IAP processing directly into Fortnite by means other than the Apple IAP system or based on the steps that Epic Games has taken to do so. This preliminary order will remain in effect during the suspension of this litigation, unless Epic affiliates violate: (1) any of their governing agreements with Apple or (2) the App Store's operating guidelines. This preliminary order REPLACES the previous temporary restriction order.

Unless the two parties reach an agreement or a verdict is not reached, the ruling means that Fortnite and other Epic games will continue to be unavailable on the App Store during the trial. As previously reported, the trial is currently scheduled to begin on Monday, May 3, 2021.