Yesterday among the whirlwind of news, Apple removed Fortnite from the iOS App Store because Epic Games have broken the App Store guidelines around in app purchases.

In an recent update to Fortnite, Epic Games decided to go against the rules set in place by Apple and add direct payments into the game for items which would otherwise be paid for using an in app purchase. Fortnite still offered Apple’s in app purchase option but at a higher price of $9.99 as opposed to the $7.99, if the player paid Epic Games directly.

After Apple took Fortnite off the App Store, Epic Games filed a law suit against Apple on the grounds that forcing developers to use the in app purchase model is anticompetitive.

Apple said the following in a statement to The Verge:

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. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store. Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the ‌App Store‌ guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.

Apple

For in app purchases, Apple takes a 30% cut for providing the easy access to the payment details on file of the user and for the up keep of the App Store.

Shortly after this Apple vs Epic Games incident, Google weighed in on the matter and also removed Fortnite from the Google Play Store for the same reasons Apple did.

Google said the following:

The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores. 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.

Google

Users on Android can still install Fortnite via the web but this can be a bit risky in some situations and if you have Google Protection enabled on your account you won’t be able to install it from outside the Play Store.

Epic Games have also filed a law suit against Google for the same reasons as Apple.

BREAKING: Epic has filed suit against Google as well pic.twitter.com/ldlTVpkUso

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 14, 2020