“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.
