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Epic Games is at war with Apple and Google. The creators of the well-known game Fortnite have gotten tired of paying 30% commissions to these companies and have launched a way to make in-game purchases that bypasses the iOS and Android app stores. The response from Apple and Google has not been long in coming, removing the game outright from the App Store and the Play Store respectively
But, what has Epic Games done to make both Apple and Google decide to remove one of the most famous games worldwide from their stores? The creators of Fortnite have released an update to the game that allows users to pay for their in-game purchases directly to Epic, instead of using the system that goes through iOS and Android stores.As we said, this avoids the 30% commission applied by Apple and Google stores. The problem is that this maneuver violates the rules of both stores, since both require that all purchases made within an application or game go through their payment gateways.
Apple was the first to react
Of course, neither Apple nor Google were going to allow this maneuver by Epic Games. The first to react was the apple company, which barely took a few hours to withdraw Fortnite from the App Store.
To justify its decision, Apple sent a statement accusing Epic Games of violating App Store laws. Epic Games' response has been to announce that they will take legal action against Apple And to top it off, they posted an in-game video that parodies Apple's 1984 ad, putting the apple company as a monopolist.
Google makes the same decision
But now it is Google that has made the same decision as Apple. The Play Store's in-app purchase policies are the same as Apple's. All apps and games must use the Play Store purchasing system. And just like Apple, Google also charges 30% commission
So, even though the Play Store rules are somewhat more lax than Apple's, Google has had no choice but to remove Fortnite from the Play StoreHowever, the message sent by the Mountain View is somewhat more "light" than that of Apple. Google's statement in this regard says that “Android's open ecosystem allows developers to distribute applications through multiple application stores. But for game developers who choose to use the Play Store, we have consistent policies that are fair to developers and keep the store safe for users."
And in case it's not entirely clear, they continue to say “while Fortnite is still available on Android, we can no longer have it on the Play Store because it violates our policies”. So, as you can see, Android users will be able to continue installing Fortnite and enjoying the game without problems
So how can we install Fortnite on Android if it's not on the Play Store? As Google itself indicates in its statement, we are lucky that Android is an open system, so app and game installations are not limited to the Play Store.
Epic Games itself has published on its website an alternative method to install Fortnite on Android phones. The game can be downloaded via the Epic Games app or via the Samsung Galaxy Store if you are using a Samsung mobile.
iPhone and iPad users, however, will not be able to install the Fornite game if they haven't already done so. As you well know, Apple does not allow you to install applications or games that are not in the App Store.
