“Fortnite” developer Epic Games is submitting both Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) After both mobile app platforms removed the company from the popular battle royale title from their stores over direct payment issues.
What happened: Both platforms provide access to “Fortnite” through their digital marketplaces.
The Epic lawsuit said Apple has grown into a “behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition and discourage innovation,” according to CNET.
“Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched and more degrading than Iron Man monopolies. Apple’s size and reach are far greater than those of any technology monopolist in history,” said the game developer.
See also: Apple, Google Taken to Court over Removal of ‘Fortnite’ from App Stores
Why it’s important: Last month, Apple became the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing Saudi Arabia’s oil company Saudi Aramco. Apple has a market value of $ 1.9 trillion.
In its lawsuit, Epic seeks “involuntary relief to allow fair competition in these two key markets that directly affect hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of thousands, if not more, of third-party app developers.”
Google, like Apple, is taking a 30% reduction in in-app billing. While the cut is probably not as detrimental to a large company as Epic, the large revenue stakes held by companies like Apple and Google have created massive barriers for indie game developers.
Emma Maassen, founder of Kitsune Games, sei on Twitter that if companies took only 12% as Epic Games does on its store, their studio would not have to rely on crowdfunding to develop a new title. Other indie game developers were getting the same sentiment.
What follows: The all-out battle between Epic, Google, and Apple has created a massive wave of emotion in the gaming community.
“Epic knows that gamers have proven that if you can get them angry enough and get the right hashtag for them, they can be effectively armed,” wrote Rebekah Valentine, senior staff writer at Gameindustry.biz.
Screenshot “Fortnite” thanks to Epic Games.
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
