The ongoing platform war between Epic Games and Apple is reaching an unfortunate, but predictable, conclusion. On Wednesday morning, Epic announced thatFortnite’s upcoming major update forChapter 2 Season 4will not be coming to iOS or macOS platforms. Update v14.00 is planned to go live on August 27 across all other platforms, but Apple users will have to wait for Epic and Apple to figure out their issues first.
Epic’s cited reason for the latest update not coming to Apple platforms is that, “Apple is blockingFortniteupdates and new installs on the App Store, and has said they will terminate our ability to developFortnitefor Apple devices.” The message Epic wants to convey is that Epic wants to provide update for users on Apple devices, but that it’s Apple’s fault for preventing Epic from doing so. That, obviously, isn’t the entire truth.
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The full situation has to take into account whyApple has removedFortnitefrom the Apple Store. Epic added a “Direct Payment” system inFortnitethat bypasses Apple, denying the storefront its required 30% fee on all in-app purchases. Apple removedFortniteas a result, saying thatFortnitecan return to the storefront once the Direct Payment feature is removed from the game. So, in a literal sense, the problem is due to an action that Epic took first that broke the Apple Store rules for apps.
Even that isn’t the full story, however.Epic has since filed a lawsuit against Appleasking for “injunctive relief to allow fair competition” on the platform. Further, it alleges that Apple’s iOS App market is anti-competitive and that its contractual restrictions are illegal. In other words, Apple says it removedFortnitebecause it broke Apple’s rules, but Epic is saying the rules are illegal and shouldn’t need to be followed.
Epic could, theoretically, take out itsDirect Payment system fromFortnitein order to haveFortniteput back up on the Apple storefront while the lawsuit continues. However, that would likely be harmful to the argument it’s making in its lawsuit. Namely, that it’s pursuing this lawsuit because it’s right and not because Epic is seeking financial gain. HavingFortniteremoved from iOS also serves as a point of controversy that riles fans up in support of Epic, as the #FreeFortnite hashtag shows.
Regardless of the cause,Fortnitewill not be receiving updates on iOS for a very long time. It’s not even clear whetherFortnitewill remain playable on the platform. Android users will still be able to updateFortnitedirectly from Epic, butnot through the Google Play store. Apple has no such workaround. And it may be a while before that changes.
Fortniteis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and mobile devices, with PS5 and Xbox Series X support planned for later this year.
