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Fortnite has vanished from the App Store and Google Play Store – here's why
With over 350 million players around the world, Fortnite is without a doubt one of the most popular games at the moment.
If you play Fortnite, you may have noticed that the game has disappeared from both the App Store and Google Play Store.
Apple and Google removed Fortnite after its developer, Epic Games, rolled out a direct payment feature that violating the tech giant’s guidelines.
Now, Epic Games has filed federal antitrust lawsuits challenging Apple and Google’s rules.
“Apple has become what it once railed against: the behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation.
“Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear,” Epic said in its lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California.
Epic also attacked Apple on social media, launching a campaign with the hashtag #FreeFortnite, urging players to seek refunds from Apple if they lose access to the game, and creating a parody of Apple’s famous “1984” television ad.
In the parody, which quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of views, a female Fortnite fighter hurls a unicorn-shaped club to smash a screen on which an Apple-headed character speaks of “the anniversary of the platform unification directives.”
Apple takes a cut of between 15% and 30% for most app subscriptions and payments made inside apps, though there are some exceptions for companies that already have a credit card on file for iPhone customers if they also offer an in-app payment that would benefit Apple.
Analysts believe games are the biggest contributor to spending inside the App Store, which is in turn the largest component of Apple’s $46.3 billion-per-year services segment.
In a statement, Apple said Fortnite was removed because Epic had launched the payment feature with the “express intent of violating the App Store guidelines” after having had apps in the store for a decade.
“The fact that their (Epic) 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,” Apple said.
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