Will Apple Ban PUBG Mobile from iOS? What Happens to the Unreal Engine?

If you have not kept up with all that is going on in the world of gaming then you should know that Epic games the makers of Fortnite and Apple have been involved in a very messy controversy. Epic games is a game developing and publishing company that is best known for its battle royal game Fortnite. The controversy started when Apple and Android decided to remove the mobile port of Fortnite from its respective app stores after Epic Games started to stop sharing a share of the micro-transactions made in Fortnite. Both Apple and Android have guidelines that specify that any game available on its app stores have to make transactions within the ecosystem and give a certain amount of the transactions made by users in the game.

Now both Apple and Android have responded differently to the move made by Epic games. Now Apple has not only banned Fortnite from the iOS app store but also has made unreal engine 5 its new target in its ongoing battle against Epic Games. Now here is where the issue starts to affect PUBG Mobile. Many games including PUBG Mobile and Fortnite use Unreal Engine 5 to develop games and iOS has always supported the games made in Unreal Engine 5 on its platform. This has made many game developers take notice and even companies like Microsoft have now entered the battle.

Today we filed a statement in support of Epic's request to keep access to the Apple SDK for its Unreal Engine. Ensuring that Epic has access to the latest Apple technology is the right thing for gamer developers & gamers https://t.co/72bLdDkvUx

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) August 23, 2020

Will PUBG Mobile be banned from iOS and iPhones?

Yes, there is now a very real possibility for PUBG Mobile to be banned from the iOS platform. PUBG Mobile also uses the same Unreal Engine 5 that Fortnite is using. If Apple is able to win this battle in the court of law in the United States then there is a real possibility that PUBG Mobile and a host of other games will be removed from the iOS platform. For developers, this news comes as a shock as Apple has not only decided to ban Fortnite but also games that have not violated any of the guidelines set by Apple for game or app development.

“Denying Epic access to Apple’s SDK and other development tools will prevent Epic from supporting Unreal Engine on iOS and macOS,” said Kevin Gammill, Microsoft’s general manager for third-party developers on the Xbox, “and will place Unreal Engine and those game creators that have built, are building, and may build games on it at a substantial disadvantage.”

All this controversy between the game developers and operating systems have made many ask a question that may change the world of mobile gaming. Should Epic Games and other developers be allowed to make transactions without paying the platform developers? Should the OS makes decide who to ban and when to ban a developer? Should the consumers of Apple and Fortnite have a say in how the product they have bought operates?

From the looks of the proceedings of the lawsuit, it seems that Apple may win in the United States. “Developers who work to deceive Apple, as Epic has done here, are terminated,” the court filing states, adding that when developers find ways to avoid its digital checkout, as Epic did, “it is the same as if a customer leaves an Apple retail store without paying for shoplifted product: Apple does not get paid.”