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Epic Games released a short film titled “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” which mocks Apple’s original “1984” ad, as a result of the fallout between the two companies.
In the film, a character with an apple for a face intones to an audience of Fortnite avatars. “Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the platform unification directives,” said the apple. “For years, they have given us their songs, their labor, their dreams. In exchange, we have taken our tribute, our profits, our control. This power is ours and ours alone. We shall prevail.”
His conclusion is emphasised with a character running towards the screen with the apple, throwing a Fortnite pickaxe into it in defiance. Then, a message appears, displaying: “Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly. In retaliation, Apple is blocking Fortnite from a billion devices. Join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984.’”
If you’re totally blindsided by this bizarre demonstration, it’s because Epic Games inserted a V Bucks payment system into the game which bypassed Apple’s payment system. The V Bucks gotten from Apple’s payment system were costlier, because Apple has a 30 per cent cut of digital purchases made on the App Store. This is in violation of the App Store’s policies, and Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store in response.
Epic Games didn’t like this. It is now suing Apple as it “unlawfully maintain[s] its monopoly” through “anti-competitive actions” through its storefront. “Epic is not seeking monetary compensation from this Court for the injuries it has suffered. Nor is Epic seeking favorable treatment for itself, a single company. Instead, Epic is seeking injunctive relief to allow fair competition in these two key markets that directly affect hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of thousands, if not more, of third-party app developers,” raid the suit.
Got all that? Great. It’s also suing Google for the same reasons stated above. Put its own payment system in, which is against the Play Store terms of service, and then Google pulled the game because it broke the agreement. We’ll keep you in the loop with regards to this whole thing. It’s all over the place.
Fortnite is out now for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
