Apple vs. Fortnite (Epic Games)

[Charonik08]

Now, this all just happened yesterday when Epic Games pushed out their “Mega Drop” which caused all in-game purchases of V-Bucks (in-game currency) to go down by 20%. On Mobile, they offered a “direct payment” service to receive this discount instead of using Apple’s AppStore to purchase it from. (Which, in turn, did not have the discount) Due to this, Epic Games violated the Terms and Agreement and Guidelines of the AppStore and Fortnite was removed from the AppStore. In retaliation, Epic Games filed a Lawsuit on Apple.
To learn more, visit this news article which I totally didn’t get from the first search option that came up when looking this up...

What are your thoughts on this? Personally, I’m rooting for Epic Games as the whole Apple taking 30% profits from all purchases done in the AppStore is honestly dumb and has been limiting many Mobile creators for a long time.

 

[Icarus]

I dislike Apple as a megacorp but I also dislike Epic for other things.


And it's a bit ironic that they're parodying the 1984 Apple advert (even if Valve did this 10 years ago).


You could either play Fortnite on PC

Spoiler

or play a better multiplayer online shooting game like Unreal Tournament

 

[Joki]

Google Play did the same thing... I guess they just don't like Fortnite :/

 

[Charonik08]

You could either play Fortnite on PC

Spoiler

or play a better multiplayer online shooting game like Unreal Tournament

Although I do have a soft spot for Unreal Tournament, despite the fact that the servers have people that are thousands of miles away and my ping goes up by millions (not really but it does lag a lot), the game is really fun, sadly Fortnite took the spot light of Unreal Tournament 4 and the game is practically dropped at this point.

Now, the problem I find with “Fortnite being removed from Apple (and now Play Store)” is that not everyone has a PC to play Fortnite on, or even a console. I personally play Fortnite on Mobile and on Switch, and although I’m not so involved with Mobile, it does kinda suck that the option to play on Mobile was basically ripped away so suddenly. I don’t really have a PC strong enough to run Fortnite, but I digress.

I do find it funny how in the official blog that Fortnite made about this, they answered the questions of refunds, and basically told everyone in a more professional way; “Go spam Apple for refunds so that they get more annoyed”

 

[Icarus]

Although I do have a soft spot for Unreal Tournament, despite the fact that the servers have people that are thousands of miles away and my ping goes up by millions (not really but it does lag a lot), the game is really fun, sadly Fortnite took the spot light of Unreal Tournament 4 and the game is practically dropped at this point.

I think the cancellation of UT4 is the reason why I have a grudge against Epic Games...

 

[Noelle]

These are both faceless megacorporations who have flagrant disregard for their workers' health, except one manipulates children into impulsively giving them money off their parent's credit card while the other pushes the limits of America's pathetically flimsy anti-trust laws so they can most efficiently scam their customers. My thoughts are that it's entertaining to watch them quibble and that epic's reaction has been seriously hilarious. Our world is certainly orwellian, but not because Apple caught you breaking their rules.

 

[Charonik08]

These are both faceless megacorporations who have flagrant disregard for their workers' health, except one manipulates children into impulsively giving them money off their parent's credit card while the other pushes the limits of America's pathetically flimsy anti-trust laws so they can most efficiently scam their customers. My thoughts are that it's entertaining to watch them quibble and that epic's reaction has been seriously hilarious. Our world is certainly orwellian, but not because Apple caught you breaking their rules.

Actually, according to Fortnite, they planned for this to happen. They intentionally got themselves banned from the AppStore to get the lawsuit up and running. I don’t think that in a matter of hours, the Fortnite team would have a whole blog set up, a cinematic short mocking them and a complete lawsuit ready. But I do agree that this whole situation is quite entertaining and honestly made my 2020 1% better.

 

[Icarus]

Actually, according to Fortnite, they planned for this to happen. They intentionally got themselves banned from the AppStore to get the lawsuit up and running.

That's either the stupidest or the smartest marketing trick ever done.

 

[Charonik08]

That's either the stupidest or the smartest marketing trick ever done.

I’d like to think it’s a bit of both, because if they lose, they also lose a huge portion of their player-base that was primarily IOS Mobile.

 

[Charonik08]

Update!

Today, Apple has signed new documents which details that Epic Games will be blacklisted from the AppStore and... get this... will BAN the usage of Unreal Engine in the AppStore and therefore all the apps that use this. This is a HUGE L for Apple as many companies will just leave Apple’s services even if Epic loses, as a huge portion of apps on the AppStore are made on Unreal. For example, PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile are both games that will be permanently banned from the AppStore (and MacOS in case you play on Mac) unless they are remade in a new engine. This war just got turned up a couple notches.

 

[Icarus]

Update!

Today, Apple has signed new documents which details that Epic Games will be blacklisted from the AppStore and... get this... will BAN the usage of Unreal Engine in the AppStore and therefore all the apps that use this. This is a HUGE L for Apple as many companies will just leave Apple’s services even if Epic loses, as a huge portion of apps on the AppStore are made on Unreal. For example, PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile are both games that will be permanently banned from the AppStore (and MacOS in case you play on Mac) unless they are remade in a new engine. This war just got turned up a couple notches.

Maybe this will permanently change the mobile game market.


I don't play many game on my phone aside from Sonic and some other stuff so I'm not aware of the current market.


Maybe Epic will learn and Apple will simply lose popularity (unless companies uses another engine for their IOS port of game)

 

[Augus]

Insanely cool that countless small developers are being thrown under the bus because two megacorps are having a petty slap fight over getting a bigger slice of the pie and everyone's just like "wHoSE SiDe ArE yOu oN???"

They're both awful and I promise you that no matter what the outcome of this suit is the only people who stand to benefit from it are Apple and Epic.

 

[Joki]

Luckily I have android, so not only are we keeping ue4 games, but Fortnite is gone! :crab:

 

[Tjoc55]

Luckily I have android, so not only are we keeping ue4 games, but Fortnite is gone! :crab:

You can still download fortnite on Android from the epic games website or the Samsung galaxy store.

 

[Joki]

You can still download fortnite on Android from the epic games website or the Samsung galaxy store.

Eh, close enough

 

[Charonik08]

Insanely cool that countless small developers are being thrown under the bus because two megacorps are having a petty slap fight over getting a bigger slice of the pie and everyone's just like "wHoSE SiDe ArE yOu oN???"

They're both awful and I promise you that no matter what the outcome of this suit is the only people who stand to benefit from it are Apple and Epic.

Yeaup. I seriously don’t understand people that support Apple on this. (Not including corporate because they know that Apple is necessary to the mobile market) Sure, Epic Games is considerably worse than Apple, and if they win, Boo hoo, big deal. If Epic loses, THOUSANDS of developers, big and small, all get screwed over what is seemingly a feud.

 

[Icarus]

Insanely cool that countless small developers are being thrown under the bus because two megacorps are having a petty slap fight over getting a bigger slice of the pie and everyone's just like "wHoSE SiDe ArE yOu oN???"

They're both awful and I promise you that no matter what the outcome of this suit is the only people who stand to benefit from it are Apple and Epic.

Yeah, this will also change how indie dev would consider going for Apple...


I kinda hope that Apple Arcade fails so there won't be exclusives locked on mobile.


And maybe we'll finally see Sonic 1&2 coming to consoles and PC.

 

[Charonik08]

I kinda hope that Apple Arcade fails so there won't be exclusives locked on mobile.

Half or more of the games in Apple Arcade are made in Unreal, so hopefully it does.

 

[Icarus]

Half or more of the games in Apple Arcade are made in Unreal, so hopefully it does.

Honestly the main reason is that I wish that Chuchu Rocket game gets eventually ported to consoles and PC.

 

[Charonik08]

Warning: I’m not that veryinvolved in law and I’m in no way confident about court laws and such, so if I do mess up something in advanced, I’m sorry.

Update 2!

While many minor things have happened so far in the infamous slap fight between Epic and Apple, this is the first hearing that has been done since the filing of the Lawsuits from both Epic’s side and Apple’s counter-lawsuit. (Besides Microsoft officially supports Epic Games on their decision) The judge has concluded that “Regarding all property of Epic Games on the AppStore, Epic Games will maintain their status as Publisher and Creator on the AppStore, therefore they can publish other games on such platform and as so the Unreal Engine will stay as a re-useable resource on the AppStore. However, as Epic Games strictly defied the Terms and Services and Guidelines of the AppStore with their game “Fortnite,” said game will be permanently removed on the AppStore until the app fits the ruling by Apple’s AppStore. (A.k.a the direct payment functionality on mobile.)” And in case you were wondering, yes I did reword it a bit, but that’s the gist of it. So Apple won the first verdict, and as so, future hearings will be held until the final hearing on September happens.

What do you guys think? Does Epic still have a chance to win?

In other news the Judge force muted the Apple representative, dude is a legend

Edit;

And maybe we'll finally see Sonic 1&2 coming to consoles and PC.

Isn’t Sonic 1, 2 and 3 all on Steam? And in that case even the Sega Genesis Emulator thingy that Sega released on Steam as well? I mean it technically would be better as it’s basically easy modding for classic Sega games considering the workshop is practically unlimited with mods as well.