Apple said it had removed Fortnite from the platform as Epic Games was violating the tech giant's guidelines by announcing a way for players to buy in-game currency without using Apple's proprietary payment systems.
It quickly became clear that the suit was not a spur of the moment decision by Epic, or a simple response to Apple's move. The complaint ran to 60 pages, and one of the lawyers on it was Christine Varney, who ran the Justice Department's antitrust division during the Obama administration. And then Epic added insult to injury, releasing a video parodying Apple's iconic "1984" ad, casting Apple in the role of villain.
Apple's swift decision to boot Fortnite reflects the enormous influence of Epic Games, Fortnite's owner. The clash between the two companies highlights the growing scrutiny over Apple's App Store policies.
Epic's suit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Apple of violating US antitrust law and claims the company wields anti-competitive monopoly power over the distribution of iOS apps.
Apple said in a statement Thursday that Epic had violated its App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments.
"Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users," Apple said in a statement emailed to CNN Business. "As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store."
Apple said it will work with Epic to resolve the violations so Fortnite can return to the App Store.
The controversy began when Epic Games announced Thursday it will offer a permanent 20% discount on Fortnite's in-game currency if players purchase directly from Epic.
"Currently, when using Apple and Google payment options, Apple and Google collect a 30% fee, and the up to 20% price drop does not apply."
The company added, "If Apple or Google lower their fees on payments in the future, Epic will pass along the savings to you."
Hours later, Fortnite had vanished from Apple's app store - and Epic responded with its lawsuit.
On Thursday evening, Google said it too had removed Fortnite from the Google Play Store, though the game can still be installed from other sources on Android devices.
"The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores," Google said in a statement. "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. While Fortnite remains available on Android, we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play."
This isn't the first time Epic has had an antagonistic relationship with the major app stores. In 2018, Epic announced it would not bring Fortnite to Google's Play Store and instead asked players to download the game directly from its website.
Apple has rejected claims that it uses its control over the iOS App Store in an anticompetitive manner. It hired an independent research firm to publish a report showing that the 30% cut it takes is standard across many digital marketplaces.
As Epic was preparing to launch its own software marketplace, Sweeney said it no longer makes sense for app stores to take such a hefty chunk of app developers' revenue.
