No more dropping in from Apple and Google products? Epic Games’ battle royale game Fortnite has been removed from both the stores.
The comes after the fact that Epic Games on Thursday created a way to bypass those stores fee for players looking to buy V-bucks on mobile.
Apple released the following statement to The Verge about why Fortnite by Epic Games has been removed from the App Store;
Apple’s statement regarding Fortnite
Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store.
Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.
Epic has had apps on the App Store for a decade, and have benefited from the App Store ecosystem – including its tools, testing, and distribution that Apple provides to all developers. Epic agreed to the App Store terms and guidelines freely and we’re glad they’ve built such a successful business on the App Store. The fact that their business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users.
We will make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.
But what about the Fortnite players?
Well they can still play until the next update and still purchase V-Bucks but you can’t download the game if you have not done so already on your Apple or Google product. Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch has not been affected and it looks like this may be limited just to players using Apple and Google devices.
Fortnite does have a new season starting in just a few weeks which could severely impact these Apple and Google players if the game is not restored to the stores by then.
The MONEY Game
Said it before and I’ll say it again; But this goes to show it’s all a MONEY game. Nothing about this has anything to do with the game aspect anymore.
People should never forget; Apple, Google and Epic are companies … and they are in it to make as much money as possible. The game, the players all of the things you could think of come after that.
Harsh … maybe.
True, you damn right it’s true.
And in who is the worst of them … well … both Apple and Google are insane juggernauts who have enough money to flood the planet but they have a Terms of Service to which everyone has to comply if they want to be featured. (I’m not saying that that is a great thing … but it’s the ecosystem everyone is bound too)
And then we have Epic who have bypassed it which is against said Terms of Service. So yeah … they consider themselves special enough to be allowed to do so.
Epic has now gone out an planned to sue both Apple and Google. So there is that as well.
Dare I say 2020; what’s next?
