USA TODAY US Edition

‘Fortnite’ game is banned from Apple’s App Store

- Brett Molina and Mike Snider

Epic Games, publisher of Fortnite, is making the first major challenge to Apple’s dominant distributi­on system, its App Store.

Epic, based in Cary, North Carolina, kicked off its offensive Thursday by announcing a direct payment option for mobile players.

Subsequent­ly, the game was no longer available to download via Apple’s App Stores.

In response, Epic Games filed suit in U.S. District Court in California, claiming Apple has set “unreasonab­le restraints” over how it handles in-app payments.

“Apple has become what it once railed against: the behemoth seeking to control markets, block competitio­n, and stifle innovation,” reads an excerpt from the complaint. “Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolist­s of yesteryear.”

While other major tech players including Netflix, Spotify and Amazon have raised issues about Apple’s 30% fee for revenue from most app developers, this is the first legal challenge, says Daniel Ives, an analyst and managing director with Wedbush Securities.

“This is the first major shot across the bow, especially given Epic and Fortnite, they have such a massive following,” Ives said. “This is going to be a battle royale and investors as well as developers are watching closely to see how this all plays out and also to see Apple’s next move.”

A search on the App Store by USA TODAY confirmed that Fortnite is not available to download. The game remained available to download on Google Play as of Thursday afternoon.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Apple confirmed Fortnite’s removal from the App Store for violating App Store guidelines.

“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,” Apple said in a statement.

Epic Games also teased a new short titled “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite,” which appears to spoof Apple’s classic “1984” ad.

“Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly,” reads a message at the end of the parody ad. “In retaliatio­n, Apple is blocking Fortnite from a billion devices. Join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984.’”

Epic says in its complaint that it wants the court to issue an injunction “prohibitin­g Apple’s anti-competitiv­e conduct and mandating that Apple take all necessary steps to cease unlawful conduct and to restore competitio­n.”

The payment system would allow mobile players to perform transactio­ns on Fortnite without going through the App Store or Google Play. The publisher said mobile players get 20% discounts when paying directly to Epic.

In its statement, Apple said it will work with Epic to help bring Fortnite back to the App Store.

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