Epic Games sues Apple after Fortnite was removed from the App Store

Epic Games says it is suing Apple over its decision to remove Fortnite from the App Store. This happened after the game developer added the direct payment option to V-Bucks, inadvertently violating Apple’s policies.

On August 13, Epic surprised players by adding a direct payment method in Fortnite for iOS and Android. Game industry experts predict this move may violate Apple’s policy.

Not long after, Apple responded by removing this popular battle royale game from the App Store. The technology company released a notice saying that the game publisher broke the rules of their store, so the removal of the game was obvious.

Apple removes Fortnite from the App Store

August 13, Epic launches a “direct payment” option on iOS and Android devices. This move was praised by some, helping V-Bucks become cheaper by circumventing 30% of fees from Apple.

However, not long after, newspapers reported that Fortnite was no longer on the App Store, before Apple confirmed they had taken down the battle royale game.

Epic Games sues Apple

Later, Epic announced they had decided to sue App for removing their game from the App Store.

Epic Games filed a lawsuit in response to Apple, the Fortnite Twitter account posted the notice on twitter, along with a link to the text of the lawsuit.

Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly. In retaliation, Apple is blocking Fortnite from a billion devices.

Visit https://t.co/K3S07w5uEk and join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming “1984” https://t.co/tpsiCW4gqK

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 13, 2020

Fortnite holds an in-game Anti-Apple event

It seems that Epic Games knew Apple would remove Fortnite so they launched an in-game event called #FreeFortnite (Leave Fortnite Free) to condemn this action.

And yet, the publisher also released a video with the announcement: “Epic Games challenges the App Store exclusivity mode. Apple responded by blocking Fortnite on billions of devices. Join the fight to prevent 2020 from becoming ‘1984’.”

1984 refers to the book by writer George Orwell, about a chaotic fantasy world where people have no freedom, always being monitored by Big Brother.

(2/2) Here is what they played on screen in the game today. pic.twitter.com/5gHPrev8yh

— Squatingdog (@thesquatingdog) August 13, 2020

The Fortnite app on Android has also been removed from the Google Play Store

Not long after the Apple-related news broke, Google also removed Fortnite from its Play Store for Android. Epic Games Store then also sued Google for this move.

What is going on

According to many users, those who have the battle royale game installed on iPhone and Android can still play and buy in-game items. The game has only been removed from the App Store and Google Play.

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