Recently, Epic Games launched its own integrated payment system that allows it to bypass Google and Apple's 30% fees. Epic Games has also offered discounts of up to 20% through its new payment service.
However, Epic Games' payment system has not performed well with Google and Apple. So, Apple first decided to launch Fortnite from the App Store, and after that, Google decided to do the same.
According to Google and Apple, by introducing its own integrated payment system, Epic Games is breaking their policies.
Fortunately, the Android version of the game is still available through the official Epic Games website and the Samsung Galaxy Store for Samsung users. However, for iOS users, there is no way to install Fortnite if they haven't already.
Epic Games wants Apple to end its monopoly on the App Store
The decision to remove Fortnite from the app stores infuriated Epic Games so much that the developer sued both Google and Apple.
Epic Games says they're not looking for money in this lawsuit and just want Apple and Google to stop dominating app developers.
Apart from that, Fortnite included a parody video in Apple's 1984 game commercial in which the Apple App Store is described as a monopolist. The game developer is calling on gamers to support them in the fight against Apple and #FreeFortnite.
Likewise, according to Epic Games, Google's payment restrictions on the Play Store also create a monopoly, which violates California's Sherman Act and Cartwright Act. The developer said than google "Uses its size to hurt its competitors, innovators, customers and users in a large number of markets it has become monopolized."
In response to all the heat from Epic Games, Google said its consistent policies were there to make "Play Store is safe for users." And while Fortnite remains available on Android, they can no longer make it available on the Play Store for violating its policies.
Additionally, Epic Games is alleging that Google forced OnePlus to break a deal that would have allowed a Fortnite launcher pre-installed on OnePlus phones. According to the developer, Google has also forced other Android phone makers like LG to abandon such plans.
As of now, Google is silent on the whole debacle and refrains from commenting on such offers.
