Why “Fortnite” Has Been Pulled from the Apple and Google App Stores

“Fortnite” is the biggest game in the world, but yesterday, BOTH Apple and Google yanked it from their app stores! No small action!

Here’s the deal:  Epic Games, the maker of “Fortnite”, intentionally picked a fight with the companies in order to file a lawsuit, accusing both of being monopolies.

It all started when Epic offered users a DISCOUNT on in-game purchases if they made DIRECT payments to THEM, rather than going through the normal channels.

That’s against the rules . . . because Apple and Google require payments to go through them so that they can take a 30% cut.

Epic knew that as soon as Apple and Google noticed, they’d nix “Fortnite” . . . so they had lawsuits prepared against both companies.

They also put out a parody of a 1984 Apple commercial, where Apple positioned itself as an upstart versus the evil “Big Brother” IBM.  In Epic’s parody, Apple has taken over the evil overlord role.

At the end, it says, quote, “Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly.  In retaliation, Apple is blocking ‘Fortnite’ from a billion devices.  Join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984.’  #FreeFortnite.”

This clash . . . and the challenge to Apple’s app store rules . . . was probably inevitable.  And of course it HAD to happen in the middle of 2020, when everything is terrible.