If you violate the terms and conditions of a platform on which you operate, you have to be prepared for the consequences. Epic Games disagrees and is now sueing Apple and Google.
To make it easier for players to buy skins in Fortnite Mobile, Epic Games implemented direct payment methods for V-Bucks. Neither Apple nor Google enjoyed that breach of their terms and conditions and have pulled the app from their respective app stores.
With the new method, payments would no longer be handled through the stores and both tech giants would lose out on 30% commission for every purchase. While the change made V-Bucks cheaper for users, Apple and Google no longer earned their share of the microtransactions and removed the game from their stores shortly after the update.
Epic Games goes to court
Instead of reverting the change, Fortnite’s developers have now decided to sue the companies.
Additionally they released a parody of Apple’s original 1984 advertisement for the Apple Macintosh that portrayed Fortnite as a freedom fighter under the hashtag #freefortnite.
It is unclear whether or not Epic will have success with the lawsuits, since their breach of the terms and conditions of Apple and Google were the first escalation in the conflict. Said breach is more than enough cause for both companies to remove the app in turn.
You can still play Fortnite on your mobile as long as you have installed it already, as only new downloads have been made impossible. Android users can also still download the game via Epic’s own Epic Games store.
In a statement given toThe Verge Apple even stated that they hope to “work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.” Nevertheless Apple will not allow preferential treatment for Epic Games.
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