Epic Games accuses Apple of strong-armed robbery

After the complete removal of Fortnite from Apple’s App Store on August 13, Epic Games retaliated by filing a lawsuit – justified by Apple’s “unfair business practices,” according to Epic.

It all started on the morning of August 13, when Epic introduced a permanent discount for ‘V-bucks,’ the paid in-game currency used to purchase cosmetics. Usually, Apple (and Google) collect a 30% fee from in-game transactions on their mobile platforms, but Epic circumvented that fee by allowing users to pay them directly for a 20% discount.

Needless to say, Apple (and Google), did not appreciate being cut out of the deal. In retaliation, both Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their respective app stores. Both cited Epic’s violation of their store guidelines as justification for Fortnite’s removal.

Even though Fortnite is unavailable for download from either store, Android users can still download it directly from Epic themselves. IOS users, however, are a different story – thanks to Apple’s strict guidelines and narrow criteria concerning eligibility for their App Store, iPhone users can no longer download or update the game.

Epic aimed the lawsuit only at Apple and its “series of anti-competitive restraints and monopolistic practices.” Epic isn’t even suing for monetary damages; instead, Epic is looking to end Apple’s tight control and to “open up the space for progress and ingenuity,” – according to the lawsuit.

Now that Epic has started a battle in court, so too has the battle begun for hearts and minds. In addition to the lawsuit, Epic launched its “#freefortnite” campaign – the crux of which parodies a classic Apple marketing campaign that likened IBM’s dominance of computing to George Orwell’s dystopian ‘Big Brother’ from his novel, 1984.

Apple's "1984" commercial

Despite creating one of the most popular video games of all time, Epic have framed themselves in the lawsuit and online as David against Apple’s Goliath. According to Epic’s lawsuit, they aren’t looking for any unique individual treatment; instead, they are fighting to “allow fair competition in these two key markets that affect hundreds of millions of consumers.”

The lawsuit also suggests that despite the massive value third-party apps contribute to the iOS ecosystem, Apple knowingly suppresses innovation to remove competition – especially when the distribution of apps on iOS is concerned.

Epic even goes as far as to allege that Apple “gags” developers by prohibiting the mere suggestion of other purchasing methods outside of the App Store. The lawsuit states that because of Apple’s tight grip over their storefront, “app developers have no choice but to assent to this anti-competitive tie; it is Apple’s way or the highway.”

This lawsuit is only the beginning. Apple’s grip on its storefront has been challenged before. Still, Epic’s airing of the legal dirty laundry and public rallying is quite a first considering Fortnite’s massive influence and permanent ingraining in modern pop-culture.

*Addendum – at the time of writing it seems Epic has now filed a lawsuit against Google as well, for similar reasons.