Epic Games has been for long critical of digital storefront platforms like Valve’s Steam, Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store for levying a 30% revenue cut (an industry-standard) for all transactions performed through their platforms, arguing that a lower revenue cut still keeps them profitable while benefiting the developer and lowering costs for the consumer. Epic runs its Epic Games Store charging a 12% revenue cut just to showcase its business viability.
Riding the wave of its game Fortnite's popularity, Epic has released the game on multiple platforms including iOS and Android. Users have to buy Fortnite's in-game currency called "V-Bucks" to perform in-game transactions and the policies of Apple and Google mandate these microtransactions be performed through their payment platform, for which they take a 30% cut. However, this all changed on August 13, 2020, when Epic Games introduced an update to Fortnite on iOS and Android devices. This update gave players the option to purchase V-Bucks directly from Epic Games themselves, instead of going through the App Store on iOS devices, and the Google Play Store on Android devices effectively circumventing the transaction fees.
Unsurprisingly, Apple responded quickly by delisting Fortnite for breaching its terms of service and soon Google followed suit by removing the game from the Play Store. Barely any time had passed at all before Epic's extensive response to Apple was released. Epic released a short video, titled “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite,” which parodies Apple’s iconic “1984” ad, taking famous imagery from the ad and giving it a cartoony Fortnite twist. Along with it, Epic immediately filed separate lawsuits against Apple and Google for antitrust and anticompetitive behaviour. Epic did not seek monetary damages in either case but instead was "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."
In a retaliatory move, Apple on August 17, 2020, informed Epic that it would terminate its access to developers accounts and tools for the App Store and iOS and macOS by August 28, 2020. This was a significant escalation in an already high-stakes battle. The developer program is the gateway to publishing apps on Apple’s platforms which would also affect Epic’s Unreal Engine, a hugely popular free-to-start game engine that’s widely used by developers. Many games inside Apple’s own Apple Arcade subscription service rely on the Unreal Engine, and theoretically, those developers would struggle to build new iOS games or create updates if Apple cuts off access to the software. At this point, Microsoft jumped in in support of Epic since it also relies on Unreal Engine for its in-house games. In a court proceeding that followed, the judge ruled in favour of Epic instructing Apple to provide development access for Unreal Engine but did not grant the preliminary injunction to overturn Apple's decision to remove Fortnite from the iOS store.
Epic Games has become the voice of the app development industry which has criticised Apple and its App Store policies for years. Several of Apple’s biggest critics including Epic Games, Spotify and Match Group banded together to create the Coalition for App Fairness, a group aiming to “create a level playing field for app businesses and give people freedom of choice on their devices” and hoping to gain influence over Apple through a united developer front. This saga will now continue as the Epic Games vs Apple trial begins later this year in May and its outcome will determine the future of Fortnite on Apple’s mobile platform, but most importantly bring a spotlight on Apple’s closed ecosystem where it enjoys a monopoly.
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