While Fortnite continues to prosper as one of the biggest landmark titles in gaming, Epic Games is still in deep conflict with Apple over the current lawsuit regarding Apple’s share of profits and the antitrust concerns. In spite of how popular Fortnite has been across all platforms, Epic hasn't been shy about its dissatisfaction with its deal with Apple, and how the tech company’s share of profits negatively impact not just the publisher, but any developer that decides to have their games on an iOS device.
Epic Games issued the lawsuit in August 2020, after introducing a new method in which players could purchase V-Bucks, Fortnite’s in-game currency, directly to Epic, which would be cheaper and cut Apple out of its share of the profits. Apple reacted to this by deleting Fortnite from the App Store, to which Epic immediately filed its lawsuit, complete with an in-game short film titled Nineteen-Eighty Fortnite, which parodied Apple’s 1984 commercial.
After months of legal battle, it's been revealed that a group of 35 states has thrown support behind Epic Games, stating that Apple’s conduct is “harming mobile app developers and millions of citizens.” Microsoft, a large supporter of Fortnite for the Xbox consoles, has also stated its support of Epic in this lawsuit, arguing that their interference will do more harm to and leave little competition due to their dominance over adjacent markets.
As of now, both CEOs from Apple and Epic Games have testified in the most recent trial regarding this case. Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney has been the most outspoken about this matter, as he has been restating his stance on the matter years before the lawsuit even took place, saying that Apple’s App Store fees were crazy and unfair.
While there are uncertain signs of whether the situation will be resolved in any specific side’s favor, it is telling that Epic has been receiving the most vocal support since this lawsuit took action. The major matter that remains unresolved is whether we will see Fortnite return to any iOS device in the future, which may not be the case for some time.
That being said, as most of Fortnite’s revenue is made up of players from other consoles like PS4, losing the market on Apple products may not be such a terrible loss. Either way, Fortnite’s success will continue to grow in spite of the legal trouble Epic Games remains in for the time being.
Fortnite is now available for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
Source: CNET
