Following Apple's decision to pull Fortnite from its Apple Store, Epic Games announced that it will take legal action. Epic Games shared the news via the official Fortnite Twitter account:

Epic Games has filed legal papers in response to Apple, read more here: https://t.co/c4sgvxQUvb

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 13, 2020

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“Epic brings this suit to end Apple’s unfair and anti-competitive actions that Apple undertakes to unlawfully maintain its monopoly in two distinct, multibillion dollar markets: (i) the iOS App Distribution Market, and (ii) the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market(each as defined below),” the lawsuit reads. “Epic is not seeking monetary compensation from this Court for the injuries it has suffered. Nor is Epic seeking favorable treatment for itself, a single company. Instead, Epic is seeking injunctive relief to allow fair competition in these two key markets that directly affect hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of thousands, if not more, of third-party app developers.”

You can read the complaint in its entirety in the source link below.

SOURCE

UPDATE:

In response to Fortnite being taken down from the Google Play Store as well, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against against Google for antitrust violation.

SOURCE

 

[chrisrlink]

this is just too funny on one hand we have a money hungry computer company who would sue those diy tuber repairing apple products no to mention so much security in their newer computers to prevent "unauthorized repairs" and lobby against right to repair laws on the other hand we have a gaming company who loves to sue teens for cheating (rather exploiting a bug) in an irrelavant online tps but if bugs occur in the game store (let's say the games don't register to the account once purchaced) they wouldn't give a damn cause they got your money but if i had to pick a side epic cause they don't pull strings in the government to keep their shady repair er replace for full price practices legit

 

[LightBeam]

I don't think Epic was making any extra money from purchases for the small amount of time their direct payment feature was live, I think they actually discounted purchases by 30% if you used Epic direct payment, meaning they gain nothing from this, except not having to pay into the Apple monopoly.

They do that in order to "relaunch" the microtransactions craze a little bit, they even sent 20% vbucks to those who bought a little while ago for compensation
But it's for their own sake, they are still winning. By seeing that they lower the prices, people (and especially kids) will tend to buy again.
So they are still winning with that move, they just don't want anybody else to profit from that.

Sweeney is blaming Apple and Google for they "duopoly" because they are running the two most popular stores (well ... it's their own OS so no shit) but on the other hand, does kill the Rocket League Linux compatibility, calls for "being united on Windows" or whatever bullshit. He doesn't seem to care about Windows monopoly cuz he just do not know how to profit from Linux yet, but when he will oh boy, he will flip.



Sweeney is just full of hypocrisy. most people seems to be aware of that and that's cool. I wouldn't want a world where he could say whatever bullshit with everyone clapping. At least I don't have the feeling that Apple is even trying to make me feel like they are good ... But whatever they are both shit, good thing I don't have to take any side.

 

[shinwg]

I don’t understand why so many people hate Epic ? They give us free games all the time. They kind have better deal than steam why all the hate ? I’m not fan of epic I don’t play fortnite but I saw epic give lot of good free games

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I don’t understand why so many people hate Epic ? They give us free games all the time. They kind have better deal than steam why all the hate ? I’m not fan of epic I don’t play fortnite but I saw epic give lot of good free games

Also F Apple they always charge me taxes the only company that do that I hope they lose

 

[Kioku]

I don’t understand why so many people hate Epic ? They give us free games all the time. They kind have better deal than steam why all the hate ? I’m not fan of epic I don’t play fortnite but I saw epic give lot of good free games

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Also F Apple they always charge me taxes the only company that do that I hope they lose

Their tactics are scummy. The fact that this looks like it's intentional doesn't really help, if I'm honest. Sweeney can fall off the face of the earth for all I care.

 

[Xzi]

Epic baited Apple into a lawsuit holy shit

How did Apple get "baited" if Epic are the ones who initiated the lawsuit? If anything it's the other way around.

I don't think Epic was making any extra money from purchases for the small amount of time their direct payment feature was live, I think they actually discounted purchases by 30% if you used Epic direct payment, meaning they gain nothing from this, except not having to pay into the Apple monopoly.

Of course they have something to gain by keeping 100% of the profit from in-app purchases. It's extremely unlikely that any discount they're offering now is going to be permanent.

 

[JuanMena]

Wait... I'm just reading this on Twatter.
So... for what I understood it goes like this?

• EPIC does something about micro transactions in Fortnite without telling Apple
• Apple finds about this and takes Fortnite as a response towards EPIC's violations towards Apple's Policies
• EPIC law suits Apple for that decision?

 

[DbGt]

#FreeFortnite

Apple has blocked Fortnite from the App Store, removing everyone’s ability to install and update the game on iOS devices, while instructing Epic to “remove the ‘Epic direct payment’ feature”. Apple is keeping prices high so they can collect 30% of your payments, and is blocking Fortnite in order to prevent Epic from passing on the savings from direct payments to you! Join the fight against @AppStore on social media with #FreeFortnite

Why doesn’t Epic capitulate to Apple’s demand to remove Epic direct payment?

Epic believes that you have a right to save money thanks to using more efficient, new purchase options. Apple’s rules add a 30% tax on all of your purchases, and they punish game developers like us who offer direct payment options.

Why shouldn't Apple collect 30% on App Store sales? Aren't they providing the store where developers sell software?

Apple intentionally sabotages consumer iOS devices to prevent users from installing software directly from developers, as consumers are free to do on PC and Mac. We know this is an intentional strategy because iOS does fully support installing software from the web -- but only allows it for corporations.

Apple uses this direct-installation blockade in order to force consumers to use their App Store, and then demands that game developers use their payment processing service. By blocking consumer choice in software installation, Apple has created a problem so they can profit from the solution.

https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/freefortnite

https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/fortnite-mega-drop-faq

 

[PrincessLillie]

How did Apple get "baited" if Epic are the ones who initiated the lawsuit? If anything it's the other way around.

How is it the other way around? Epic knew exactly what they were doing when they published the direct payment feature. You really don't think they typed up an entire legal document and made an entire animation in less than an hour, do you..? This was planned and made specifically to bait Apple into getting involved with a lawsuit.

Of course they have something to gain by keeping 100% of the profit from in-app purchases. It's extremely unlikely that any discount they're offering now is going to be permanent.

According to Polygon and The Verge, it's a permanent price cut.

 

[LightBeam]

I don’t understand why so many people hate Epic ? They give us free games all the time. They kind have better deal than steam why all the hate ? I’m not fan of epic I don’t play fortnite but I saw epic give lot of good free games

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Also F Apple they always charge me taxes the only company that do that I hope they lose

It's not only about free games. I also take the free games and I don't really mind the launcher anymore (I mean, it's still shit, but they don't seem to do this "exclusivity contract" bullshit with games that were already announced on Steam) but that doesn't make them less shitty.
Sometimes they can give cool games but most of the time it's games that you will not play + you already played.
But even if you play every game they give you, Steam is still better (I mean ... You can have both). I really don't see why would you buy a game on Epic if it's available on Steam. 99% of the time, prices are better on Steam. There are more services, the launcher is more reliable, big picture, Steam Proton (open source contribution from Valve to Linux compatibility), Steam Couch, Voice Chat, Softwares, Achievements, Forums and hubs, Workshops (!!!), Reviews, Cloud Saves (I mean, FUNCTIONING cloud saves), Profile pages, Big Picture, Steam Link, the incredible controller compatibility, and I think i've forgot some ...

So is Epic a better deal ? I'm not so sure about that. Epic deserved a lot of hate because of what I said earlier : the contracts with games that were already announced on Steam (but there was also the spying stuff that were accused of collecting data, like pc specs, wishlists including steam wishlist and stuff, idk what happened with that). Now people do not really have any reason to give a damn.
Hope you do understand a little bit more why Epic isn't quite appreciated. Steam just proved it's service is a way more consumer-friendly than Epic ever had and may ever have.

 

[Bladexdsl]

i hope neither wins

 

[JuanMena]

You really don't think they typed up an entire legal document and made an entire animation in less than an hour, do you..?

This... so much this.
That's why I'm so confused.
Not that I care about Fortnite nor apple, but this seems suspicious.

 

[Xzi]

Wait... I'm just reading this on Twatter.
So... for what I understood it goes like this?

• EPIC does something about micro transactions in Fortnite without telling Apple
• Apple finds about this and takes Fortnite as a response towards EPIC's violations towards Apple's Policies
• EPIC law suits Apple for that decision?

Pretty much sums it up. Epic agreed to the App Store TOS back when they first listed Fortnite on it, they recently changed in-app purchases to bypass the App Store (which violated the TOS), and Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store as a result. Then Epic sued over the removal.

Like I said before, I'm definitely no fan of either corporation, but I'd be very surprised if this lawsuit has a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. The facts are pretty cut and dry.

 

[JuanMena]

Pretty much sums it up. Epic agreed to the App Store TOS back when they first listed Fortnite on it, they recently changed in-app purchases to bypass the App Store (which violated the TOS), and Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store as a result.

Like I said before, I'm definitely no fan of either corporation, but I'd be very surprised if this lawsuit has a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. The facts are pretty cut and dry.

Yea, me neither. I can't give a fuck about fortnite.
But again, all of this seems suspicious to me.
Like... they knew they were violating the "Licence Agreement" before violating it, don't they?

 

[LightBeam]

Also just a little thing : the commission was at 30% and they lowered the price to 20%, so they are winning 10% with this. So saying that they do not profit from this is absolutely false. Now I see on Twitter that companies like Spotify do support Epic in this, which is not surprising considering that if they win, other companies will follow and try to sell microtransactions directly and expecting Apple to also give/sell their app for 0 cost

 

[Xzi]

Like... they knew they were violating the "Licence Agreement" before violating them, don't they?

It certainly appears that way, which leaves them with no legitimacy in their case unless they're arguing that the entire agreement/TOS should be null and void for some obscure, roundabout reason.

 

[LightBeam]

Yea, me neither. I can't give a fuck about fortnite.
But again, all of this seems suspicious to me.
Like... they knew they were violating the "Licence Agreement" before violating them, don't they?

I think they do but maybe they are willing to take the risk, they have a huge ton of money.
Maybe they are counting on the support of both their players and other companies who will want the same thing ? Even if they violated the ToS they may try to argue about the ToS are unfair to them

 

[MasterJ360]

Thats ok Apple will just make another useless iphone to regain the money loss....

 

[VartioArtel]

Epic baited Apple into a lawsuit holy shit
They also published an animation about it to their YouTube channel and are looping it on Twitch

This is some next-level type baiting
and I love Epic Games for this, this coming from someone who used to think Fortnite was the plague
get fucked Apple

Y'know, in any normal court case, this would be screaming Malicious Intent and be a REALLY damning piece of evidence against Epic because of the timing, implications, etc.

Edit: While it on its own does not constitute proof of anything regarding intent, do remember that actions taken after committing a court action can be used to sway the Judge/Jury/Etc that the plaintiff or defendant have less than noble motives, which CAN be used to sway the judge/jury "Hey, they clearly are not doing this for noble reasons, they did it to intentionally stir trouble", for example. See: Akilla vs Akkad.

 

[JuanMena]

I think they do but maybe they are willing to take the risk, they have a huge ton of money.
Maybe they are counting on the support of both their players and other companies who will want the same thing ? Even if they violated the ToS they may try to argue about the ToS are unfair to them

Man... I agree fighting the tirany towards big ass companies that sells cancer to people.
But maybe... maybe... these kind of companies wouldn't be such cancer if their customers didn't support them in the first place.
Why create such conspiracy to prove a point?

Are they... trying to imply something? Like... if they win, they expect everyone to call them saviours or something like that?
To me it seems likely, that EPIC want's to be like:
"Look what they've done to me, they're the bad guys and I'm the good one"

 

[Xzi]

Y'know, in any normal court case, this would be screaming Malicious Intent and be a REALLY damning piece of evidence against Epic because of the timing, implications, etc.

Yeah that's true, I didn't even consider that. Besides the legal implications, it's also childish as can be, not to mention an insult to the source material. "Large Corporation A, please save us from the grip of Large Corporation B!"