UPDATE: Epic Games has fired big shots at Apple. The official Fortnite Twitter account had a 65-page lawsuit ready to go and has filed against Apple. The suit aims to create a fair environment for the App Store and lessen/eliminate the 30% cut Apple takes from in-app purchases.
Fortnite has also begun streaming a message that’s a play on the iconic 1984 Apple ad which introduced the Macintosh. This time, it’s Epic v Apple. The clip ends with #FreeFortnite. You can see it in full below.
As noted by industry analyst Daniel Ahmed, Epic takes a 12% cut on their PC platform, Epic Games Store. 5% is used for payment processing and hosting, the other 7% is profits. The beauty of EGS is that it’s one of several options for places to purchase your games, on Apple products, you only have one marketplace.
This seems to have been a coordinated attempt to end Apple’s iron grip on the App Store given how quickly it was presented. You can click here to read the full lawsuit document.
The original, unaltered story that sparked this lawsuit can be found below.
Earlier today, Epic Games announced a way to bypass Apple’s ability to monetize products on their App Store. Apple takes a 30% cut on all in-app purchases but Epic found a bit of a work around for Fortnite… and Apple has retaliated by taking the game off their App Store.
Apple issued a statement to The Verge saying they’ll attempt to resolve the issue with Epic Games but won’t be giving them special treatment.
“Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store. Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.
“Epic has had apps on the App Store for a decade, and have benefited from the App Store ecosystem – including it’s tools, testing, and distribution that Apple provides to all developers. Epic agreed to the App Store terms and guidelines freely and we’re glad they’ve built such a successful business on the App Store. The fact that their business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users. We will make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.”
Epic was able to lower prices on their in-app purchases by allowing users to pay them directly. That way, Epic doesn’t have to share their profits with platform holders and they can make things more affordable because of that. Whether Epic Games will budge will be interesting but the mobile market is massive for them.
Epic Games dodged a bullet just last week when President Trump issued an executive order banning dealings with Chinese company Tencent, which owns a 40% stake in Epic. Luckily, the White House clarified that this would only focus on Tencent’s WeChat app.
We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.
