The Fortnite Apple legal dilemma: The clash of the Titans

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What started as a noble gesture by Epic Games to offer added value to its players ended up being the most outrageous court battle in the video game industry. To get an idea of the sequence of events that started this Fortnite Apple legal dilemma, let’s put everything in perspective on a timeline:



In a statement made by Epic Games on August 13, 2020, a significant reduction of 20% was announced to all purchase transactions of V-Bucks (Fortnite’s virtual currency) to specific forms of payment in addition to an in-game pick item celebrating the occasion.To carry out these transactions, Epic would implement a new system called “Epic Direct Payment” that would bypass the Apple and Google platforms and allow the payment to be sent directly to Epic. This action was not well seen in the eyes of Apple or Google. Currently the latter charge a 30% commission for each in-app purchase, which makes the service more expensive on mobile platforms.

As a result of these events, Apple proceeded to remove the Fortnite application from its App Store with the allegation that Epic Games went against the terms of use. They added that the application could included in the repository again providing the developers remove the payment option from the game.

Immediately after the removal of the game from the Apple App Store, Epic Games announced an in-game event with an unconventional concept. The event was called “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” and the promotional campaign was inspired by an Apple commercial aired on the Macintosh introduction. In the video there was a group of people who were being “bran-washed” with propaganda, and a character dressed in a suit with an apple as head making allusion to the rival company.The campaign also included a text that said “Epic Games has challenged the monopoly of the App Store, and in retaliation Apple has blocked millions of mobile phone users. Join the fight to prevent 2020 from becoming 1984”. The ad was accompanied by the hashtag #FreeFortnite, which instantly became a trend.Additionally, Epic also filed a complaint with the Northern District of California as an anti-trust measure.

After all the commotion caused by the accusations of this Fortnite Apple dilemma, Google also decided to take action on the matter. The Fortnite app was also removed from Google Play. The reason that Google gives for the such was the non-compliance with the terms and user policies. Still, they were a bit more condescending to Epic Games and remained open to dialogue to reverse this action if necessary.Although these actions had a considerable impact on Epic Games, users were still able to download the game from other sources, such as the Samsung Galaxy app stores and Epic Games itself.

On August 8, 2020 Apple issued a statement warning Epic Games the company would do whatever is necessary to revoke its permissions from the IOS development environment account. This would be catastrophic for Epic, since many tasks that are vital to maintaining the operability of the game are performed through this platform.In response of this last event, Epic filed another complaint to try to prevent Apple from carrying out such an attack.

On August 23, 2020, Epic Games held their #FreeFornite event. A virtual event where the company gave prizes like in-game items and electronic devices such as tablets and game consoles. The objective of this activity was to protest against the actions of Apple. Epic Games took the opportunity to remind its users that apart from Apple there were also a few other platforms that they could use.

Apple responded the threats from Epic with a report detailing how the company had repeatedly sought a way to evade the responsibility they had by accepting the terms of use. Epic Games had previously contacted Apple asking about the possibility of the application of an alternative payment system. Which Apple used to its advantage in this case.Soon after, Tim Sweeney shared the original emails he had sent to Apple. The latter were apparently misleading the information coming from Epic Games. What seemed like a request for a special treatment turned out to be a request for Apple to allow all iOS developers obtain better conditions when using the platform.

Epic Games, like many other video game production studios, use the Unreal Engine to create them. This is a 3D video game creation engine from Epic Games. This is why Microsoft came to the defense of Epic Games claiming that revoking their development accounts on iOS would cause Ureal Engine to stop supporting exporting projects to iOS. Consequently, that decision would affect not only Epic, but the video game industry in general. A truly Fortnite Apple legal dilemma.

On August 25, a trial was held to determine if Fortnite would return to the Apple App Store. The judge ruled in favor of Apple on the grounds that the company was not obliged to allow any other company to have a presence in the App Store, if it does not consider it pertinent.Even so, the judge also determined that the permissions for the integration of Unreal Engine and iOS would not be revoked due to the collateral impact that this measure could have.

Early December 2020, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismissed the accusations of “theft” that Apple requested in his case, alleging that the creation of an alternative payment system was a way to evade the fee imposed by the company for the use of the platform. Another point for Epic.

After many other accusations by Epic Games against the monopolistic activities of Apple and the latter by forcibly trying to incriminate Epic Games for its breach of its terms of use, there is a trial schedule for May this year. Let’s hope this comes to an end.

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