Rubbing salt in the wound of its current adversary Epic Games, the Apple App Store is promoting Fortnite's biggest competitor, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, a day after Fortnite Season 4 began. Apple is striking back after Epic's attempts to use its massive fanbase to pressure the tech giant in their ongoing legal battle.

On August 13th, Epic Games released an update for Fortnite on mobile devices that allowed players to purchase V-Bucks at a discounted rate if they purchased them through a new direct payment method, bypassing Apple and Google's automated in-app purchases. This also allowed Epic Games to receive the full amount that players paid without giving Apple and Google a 30 percent cut. This update was added without first being approved by Apple, resulting in Fortnite being removed from the App Store for violating its terms of service. Shortly after, Epic Games announced it had filed a lawsuit against Apple for unfair and anti-competitive behavior. Apple then revoked Epic Games' privileges to update or develop new content for the mobile version of Fortnite, while players who had the game on their phones before its removal from the App Store are still able to play Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 3.

Related: Apple Claims Epic Games Just Wanted Special Treatment In Court Hearing

Fortnite Season 4 started on August 27th, featuring a large cast of Marvel heroes. Sadly, mobile users are not able to enjoy all that Season 4 has to offer as Epic Games is unable to update Fortnite on mobile platforms. However, Apple was quick to take the opportunity to promote one of Fortnite's biggest mobile competitors on the front page of the App Store. The first thing that iPhone users see when opening the mobile App Store is a large advertisement for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, one of the first battle royale games that contributed heavily to the popularity of BR games today. The ad reads "PUBG Mobile's New Era" and states that the iconic battle royale is getting a total makeover.

apple app store pubg add

To be fair, it's not like Fortnite is suffering in any way from the lack of mobile players. Fortnite has consistently been one of the top viewed games on Twitch for the past three years, while PUBG has drastically declined in popularity. Epic Games has taken multiple shots at Apple since Fortnite's removal from the App Store including parody merch, a parody commercial, and a tournament dedicated to the hashtag #FreeFortnite. It only makes sense that Apple would attempt to retaliate, but it could have dug a little deeper than promoting a poorly maintained game with a much smaller player base.

Regardless, it is entertaining to watch two megacorporation fight a very public legal battle while also playing rough in the sandbox. Is Epic Games vs Apple a very important case for mobile developers? No doubt about it. Are the companies also acting like children by using their platforms to throw shade at one another? Absolutely. This latest stunt might not be enough to catapult PUBG back to the Fortnite-like levels of success it used to enjoy, but it's certainly good advertising.

Next: Apple Kicks Epic Games Off The App Store Over Fortnite Legal Battle

Source: Apple App Store