Apple Has Officially Removed Fortnite From The App Store
Apple really went and removed Fortnite from the iOS store, right after Epic put its own payment system into the game.
You Are Reading :Apple Has Officially Removed Fortnite From The App Store
UPDATED: Epic laid out its case against Apple in a very quick lawsuit.
Apple really went and removed Fortnite from the iOS store, right after Epic put its own payment system into the game.
Epic’s in-game payment system is a violation of Apple’s policy. All payments must go through the iOS store. Apple ends up taking 30% of all profits on apps in their app store. By putting in its own system, Epic temporarily bypassed Apple’s 30% cut. The store also advertised a cheaper way to buy V-bucks, only charging $7.99 for 1,000 V-bucks when it would typically be $9.99 through Apple. The removal of Fortnite comes at a time when Apple is facing criticism over the way it runs the iOS store. It was recently revealed that Apple would never approve apps like xCloud and Google Stadia, which would bring cloud gaming to millions of people all over the world.
Apple issued a statement today detailing the violation.
“Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users… Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services… We will make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.”
Epic has been critical of Apple’s store policies in the past. Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeny, has said in the past that game stores do not justify taking a 30% cut of games and that the policy needs to change. These statements line up with Epic’s philosophy regarding game store profits. The Epic Game Store only takes a 12% cut from developers.
While Apple’s statement said that it does not give special treatment to developers, Apple has given Amazon special treatment in the past. Apple waived the 30% cut from Amazon when selling TV and movies through Amazon Prime. In a 2016 antitrust suit filed against Apple, documents showed that Apple lowered the fees for Amazon on Prime Video subscriptions from 30% to 15% so that Amazon would put its app on the iOS store.
The story is ongoing, with new developments popping up in a matter of minutes. Fortnite is the biggest game in the world, and being removed from Apple’s iOS store seems detrimental to both parties. Epic has responded to the removal of the game by suing Apple. For the Apple users with Fortnite installed on their phones, nothing should change. Unfortunately for people who do not have the game installed, it might be a while before they see Fortnite on their iPhone again.
Source: The Verge
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/apple-officially-removed-fortnite-app-store/