After a lengthy legal battle and billion-dollar loss, 'Fortnite' is back on iOS
Over four years after Epic broke App Store rules and sparked a billion-dollar battle, "Fortnite" is finally back on iPhone and iPad.
'Fortnite' returns to the US App Store
For those who have missed playing Fortnite on iPhone and iPad, today's your lucky day: it's back on the App Store. After successfully passing its review in early May, the game has been cleared by Apple and made available to players once more.
It's been four years since Fortnite was last available on iOS. In the summer of 2020, Epic willingly violated Apple's App Store rules by allowing players the option to purchase Fortnite's in-game currency directly from Epic.
The move was done to avoid the 30% fee Apple charged on in-app purchases. Of course, it was also a publicity stunt.
This violation not only resulted in the game's removal from the App Store, it kicked off a lengthy legal battle between the two tech giants. The lawsuit concluded with Epic being found guilty of violations, but it was also determined that Apple's anti-steering provisions in the App Store were not entirely legal.
Epic may have claimed a moral victory, but it's still unclear who actually won. What is clear is that the fight emptied more than $1 billion from Epic's coffers.
Buying V-Bucks in "Fortnite"
After installing the game and signing in, you're greeted with the main Fortnite page to join a game. Going to the V-Bucks menu shows a few simple choices you'd expect from a game with its own currency, like bonus coins for spending more.
Epic isn't pushy about its external link
It isn't until you choose an amount and tap purchase that you're faced with a decision. Both buttons for the Epic Games external link and the in-app purchase are identical in size.
There are no warnings about Epic owing Apple money or charging more for in-app purchase. It seems the only incentive offered is a bonus 20% in Epic Rewards by choosing the external link.
Get Fortnite as a free download from the App Store.
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Comments
Just because Karl Benz invented the automobile doesn't mean he gets a cut of every toll road.
You can remove the word 'entirely' as it's superfluous !
A really bad look for Apple and a sign that they have lost their moral compass.
What’s gonna be sad for the average developer going forward is that Xcode (and all those other tools) will not be cheap/free anymore all those developer tools that Apple has given away will over time will start to cost real money up front a la like the good old days you know those two grand software developer packs.
The big companies never cared about the small fry developer (as portrayed Sweeney Todd) its like saying, Elon cares he doesn’t refer to the way Adobe is behaving now with their new subscription plan, what is funny is all of the software companies who think they’re gonna have a subscription here and a subscription there similar to the way all those tv/video/movie production houses, cable internet/channels (including Apple) thought there was a pot of gold with endless subscriptions but there is a finite limitation for the average person/family.
The mark/customer doesn’t have a source of endless monetary resources to have 20 monthly subscriptions going at the same time, we may be headed back to the good old days where you bought something upfront once and that’s it, I have four subscriptions, Netflix, PBS, Apple and BritBox that’s it and there will be no more than that how many do you have? And that number is across all content mediums, video, music, software yep-that’s it just four….
I really wish this was the saddest thing for freedom this year, month, week or even today.
The bigger question Apple should be thinking about is not defending the current system they're using, but to recognize that it's a mature system and their monetization method should be rethought. They are entitled to recouping their costs and generating a profit. That's just business.