FORTNITE: Epic Games Suing Apple For Dropping Hit Game From Store

One of the biggest free-to-play games out right now is the battle royale extravaganza, Fortnite. With various partnerships with franchises like Marvel, DC and Star Wars, there is almost no genre of pop culture the game has not touched. 

Epic Games' leading video game has also helped bring many new professional gamers into the spotlight, including Ninja. The third person battle royale title has helped revolutionize how community gaming can be played in many different.

Perhaps its becauseof the culture and monetary impact that Fortnite has made for Epic Games that the company has been forced to sue the tech giant Apple, for pulling the title off of their store. According to Apple, the reason that they were forced to pull the title was due to Epic Games allowing a discount for those who purchase the game through Epic, which would bypass the 30% cut that Apple is supposed to make from their agreement. In response, Epic Games has decided to sue the company for anticompetitive behavior.

Apple's full statement explains, "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 its 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." However, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has been questioning some of Apple's business plans for some time stating, "Apple has no right to take any percent of any company's revenue just because they made the phone people use to access the stuff," in a Tweet. 

While this is still developing, it will be interesting what the landscape will look like on the other side of this dilemma. Will the game return to the App Store? Will Epic Games go their own way? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

 

 Like other battle royale games, Fortnite Battle Royale is a competitive shooter between 100 players as they air-drop out of a moving plane (or “battle bus”, in this case), then fight to survive as the play space slowly shrinks to force people into combat.