Apple has struck a retaliatory blow in the battle over Fortnite by cutting Epic Games off from iOS development tools. This is the latest action in a conflict between Apple and Epic Games that began on August 13th. That's when Fortnite was removed from both the App Store and the Google Play Store for offering a discount on in-game currency that circumvented both distributors' additional fees for in-app purchases.
In the hours following Fortnite's removal from the App Store, it became abundantly clear that Epic Games had come prepared. The development team swiftly published an in-game video spoofing Apple's iconic 1984 ad, with the clear message that Apple had lost its way and become the evil, faceless tech conglomerate it had originally vowed to destroy. Not long after that, Epic filed an antitrust suit against Apple. Fortnite was removed from the Google Play Store not long after this, and Epic swiftly sued Google, too.
But Apple isn't backing off. As reported by the Epic Games Newsroom Twitter account earlier today, Apple has announced that on August 28th, it will terminate all of Epic's development accounts and sever access to iOS and Mac development tools. This effectively prevents any Epic Games content from appearing on iOS devices. Epic has already filed additional legal documents to prevent Apple from carrying this out.
While the developer got overwhelming praise when its campaign begun, based on the replies to this latest announcement, it seems like its support is slipping a bit. Many Twitter users are accusing Epic of overreacting to the outcome of willfully breaking the terms and conditions it agreed to with Apple. Epic's argument, meanwhile, is that Apple's terms were always too strict. It contends that the tech giant has an unlawful monopoly over the entire iOS space, which is especially harmful, because given how prolific mobile devices are in today's society, iOS should be considered an essential facility. By cutting off its access to the App Store entirely, Epic argues that Apple is denying the developer access to this essential facility.
This is a complicated issue, and one with severe, far-reaching consequences for the entire game development industry. Epic isn't the most popular tech company in the world by a long shot; many Steam fans are bitter about it swiping exclusives from the older game platform. But the allegations it's leveling against Apple and Google are very serious, and far from unfounded. Epic isn't the first company to take issue with Apple's strict iOS policies, but it is the first to take action against them. No matter how players feel about Epic Games or about Fortnite, if they care about video games at all, they should absolutely be paying attention to this fight.
Source: Epic Games Newsroom/Twitter