A lot has happened in the past few hours. From Epic Games using a new in-app purchasing system for Fortnite to them filing a law-suit against Apple, here’s everything you need to know.
A New in-App Payment System
On Thursday, Epic Games released a new update (on both iOS and Android) for its popular battle royal game, Fortnite, that allowed users to bypass Apple’s and Google’s payment system and directly pay Epic Games for all the in-app purchases. The Result? Epic offered up to 20% discount on V-Bucks if bought directly through their payment system, which is a violation of Apple’s App Store Policy.
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For every app that has any kind of in-app purchase, Apple and Google pose a 30% cut for every purchase. That means, if you pay $10 for 1000 V-Bucks, Apple strips off Epic Games $3 on every purchase, which results in Epic earning only $7.
Apple’s Reply
Apple, as it would have with any other developer, kicked Fortnite off the Apple Store, starting a virtual-war between the two companies. Shortly after Apple removed the game, Google also kicked the game out of its Play Store. Although, you can still install it via Epic’s official installer or the Samsung Galaxy Store. There are no alternatives for Apple’s operating system, though.
Fortnite Fiasco: A Well-Planned Trap?
As soon as Apple kicked the game out of App Store, Epic Games released a video on their Social Platforms that mocked Apple’s iconic ‘1984’ ad. In the video, Epic says that it’s starting a ‘revolution’ by defying the App Store Monopoly. And pretty soon, Epic Games filed a Law-Suit against Apple in the light of its ‘anti-trust’ behavior. Tim Cook was recently called by Congress for Apple’s Anti-Trust behavior.
This Fortnite Fiasco is turning out to be rather revolutionary, with more and more companies joining hands in battling Apple’s App Store Policy. Microsoft too ended its Xbox Game Streaming (Project xCloud) app development for iOS and iPadOS due to the violation of App Store Policy.
Let us know in the poll below what you think about the whole Apple vs Fortnite situation.
