The legal dispute saga between mobile platform holders and Epic Games is continuing. After Apple pulled the rug under Epic Games and removed Fortnite from the Apple App Store yesterday, Google has now followed suit and took the popular battle royale game from their mobile store, the Google Play Store. Just like with Apple, Epic has responded to this by once again suing Google.
Fortnite is currently unavailable on Google Play. More information will be forthcoming soon.
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 14, 2020
Epic is playing a dangerous game with tech giants Apple and Google. The company behind the battle royale sensation Fortnite has it out for the platform holders’ regulations when it comes to in-game monetization a.k.a. the split both companies demand from publishers.
In case you didn’t know, the industry-standard across pretty much every platform, from PC to consoles and mobile devices is 30%. That’s the amount of money Apple, Google, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, etc. require from not only game purchases but also in-game microtransactions with real money.
Epic is in a position where they have the chance to coerce Apple and Google into changing this split, due to Fortnite being simply so popular. There’s little doubt Epic expected their game to be pulled from stores. That’s how the legal procedure started so darn quickly. After Apple, Google is now also in the crosshairs of Epic with a lawsuit filed against them.
One particular aspect from this entire ordeal is how Epic is using the large player base of Fortnite to establish pressure for what is in essence a business dispute. With a large number of teens and even children being now exposed to this, questions of morality are rising just as Gamesindustry.biz pointed out.
Epic's Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite video is an irresponsible piece of corporate propaganda | Opinionhttps://t.co/0ul1PGs6RU
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) August 14, 2020
