Apple IDs can’t be used to sign into Fortnite after Sept. 11, Epic says

Players of Fortnite and other Epic Games titles won’t be able to sign into their Epic Games accounts using their Apple ID after Sept. 11, another consequence of the publisher’s battle with Apple over its App Store rules and revenue-sharing agreement.

To maintain access to their accounts, Epic is advising players who signed up with their Apple IDs to update their accounts with their current email, and also to establish an Epic Games account password if they haven’t done so already.

For those who don’t make these changes prior to Apple ID access going dark, Epic has a means of recovering account access through email, explained on a support page posted Wednesday.

In August, Epic Games introduced a new payment system for Fortnite’s virtual currency which circumvented the normal App Store purchase — from which Apple is believed to take a 30 percent cut — for players on iOS devices. Apple retaliated by removing Fortnite from the App Store, though it remains playable and available for download by those who already had it installed.

Epic seemed to anticipate that move and immediately sued Apple. Epic also produced a video satirizing Apple and its famous 1984 advertisement for the first Macintosh computers; Fortnite also staged in-game events parodying Apple.

Apple also threatened to cut off Epic’s access to development tools for Unreal Engine (which Epic makes) on Apple platforms. But Epic successfully argued for an order preventing Apple from taking those steps.

The judge, however, did not order Apple to reinstate Fortnite. Then, yesterday, Apple counter-sued Epic, alleging Epic’s August payment change was a “cold-blooded” defiance of Apple policies that amounts to “little more than theft.” Apple also called Epic’s version of what’s going on a “self-serving narrative.”

The two companies’ next scheduled court date is Sept. 28.

Update (Sept. 10): Fortnite’s technical support Twitter account on Thursday said Apple had granted Epic an indefinite extension before Apple ID access is shut off. Epic Games still recommends Fortnite players make sure they have an email and password login updated.