Sweeney has long been a vocal opponent of the iOS and Android marketplaces as well. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said at the time that if Steam committed to an 88 percent revenue share for developers and publishers, “Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam.” At the same time, users complained that the Epic Games store didn’t offer beloved community features like friends lists and groups. Gamers who had preordered games on Steam were frustrated after Epic announced exclusivity deals with publishers. The rollout wasn’t without its own controversy. Tempted by the savings, several gamemakers moved to sign exclusive contracts and release their games on the Epic Games Store, which in turn drew in users. Epic’s store takes just 12 percent of developers’ sales. Fed up with similar practices from longtime go-to digital games marketplace Steam-which also takes a 30 percent cut of game sales-Epic launched its own Epic Games Store for Windows and macOS in 2018. This isn’t the first time Epic Games has leveraged Fortnite’s popularity to confront digital marketplace gatekeepers. “Obviously Epic knew Apple was going to remove the app.” In a blog post Thursday, Epic Games also launched a #FREEFORTNITE campaign, clearly intended to turn its millions of Fortnite fans against the behemoth tech company. “Epic likes to poke and prod and make its points,” says Adam Blacker, vice president of insights at Apptopia. The quick rollout of the lawsuits after Epic Games stuck the Apple hornets nest indicates the company had a bigger plan than selling V-bucks. “Apple’s removal of Fortnite is yet another example of Apple flexing its enormous power in order to impose unreasonable restraints and unlawfully maintain its 100 percent monopoly over the iOS in-app payment processing market,” said an Epic Games representative. Hours later, after Google removed Fortnite from its Google Play Store, Epic Games filed a lawsuit alleging that Google also engages in similar "anti-competitive conduct." The lawsuit came just moments after Apple removed Fortnite from its iOS store for instituting an in-app payment system that let users circumvent Apple altogether, a violation of App Store guidelines. The move aligns with the developer’s years-long quest to disrupt digital marketplaces and their associated fees-and comes as Apple has faced increased antitrust scrutiny on Capitol Hill.Īlleging that Apple’s grip over the iOS market is “unreasonable and unlawful,” Epic Games seeks to force access to more apps and payment processing options on iOS. Fortnite creator Epic Games launched a spear at Apple’s gatekept iOS App Store market today with a lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Northern California.
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