The company further objected to Apple’s view that its in-app purchasing was essential to the App Store, noting that purchases for real-world products (like Amazon and Uber) didn’t have to use the same system. It refused Apple’s assertion that Epic “created the current situation,” maintaining that it was simply exercising its Supreme Court-backed power to reject “anti-competitive contractual conditions.”

There’s no guarantee the court will see things Epic’s way and force Apple to restore Fortnite until there’s a verdict in the lawsuit. However, the player numbers not only change the story, but give an idea as to how well Fortnite was faring on iOS. Epic appears to have made its risky move despite a surge of iOS gamers, not to spark a surge. Mind you, that also makes this more of a gamble. The longer Fortnite stays off the App Store, the greater the chance Epic loses that earlier momentum and the money that came with it.