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Apple, reached for comment, says it is “disappointed that we have had to terminate the Epic Games account on the App Store,” as they have “worked with the team at Epic Games for many years on their launches and releases.” They point out that the court “recommended that Epic comply with the App Store guidelines while their case moves forward,” but for now, and it seems probably going forward, “Epic has refused.” “This is not fair to all the other developers on the App Store and is putting customers in the middle of their fight,” Apple says. “We hope that we can work together in the future, but unfortunately that is not possible today.”

For the time being, the Unreal Engine is safe, and developers who rely on it can feel some immediate relief. But as the hearing is set to proceed at the end of September, the future of both the Apple iOS marketplace and Epic’s Unreal Engine are at risk of being radically changed. For Apple, it’s a question of maintaining the status quo that makes the App Store hugely successful and profitable; if Epic wins this battle, it will no doubt open the floodgates and allow every game developer to obviate the costly iOS payment system, causing their revenue stream to dry up at once. Mobile gaming is one of the biggest and most lucrative fields in the world of entertainment, and whatever transpires now, it’s clearing a turning point.

Meanwhile, Epic risks everything: its cash-cow online shooter, its back-end software business, the whole lot. Unreal Engine has become such a fundamental part of the industry that it’s not even merely powering games: it’s used on film sets to simulate special effects environments, by meteorologists to visualize weather systems, by interior designers to map out rooms, by automotive manufacturers to design cars. Clearly, Apple’s capacity to make or break the Unreal Engine will have long-term consequences that are hard to predict. As the two companies prepare to fight in court, it’s all we can do to watch the action unfold — and see the future take shape.