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1:39 pm PDT 9/5/2020
by
Trilby Beresford
The ‘Fortnite’ developer released the report late on Friday, arguing that the removal of the video game from the app store has “separated millions of users from their friends and family in the ‘Fortnite’ community, which is entirely dependent on connectivity “.
Epic games archived a preliminary court order brief Friday night in the ongoing case involving Apple’s removal of Fortnite on its App Store, asking the tech giant to restore its developer account and make the free Battle Royale game available once again.
The court order, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, urged the Court to “prevent Apple from retaliating against Epic for daring to challenge Apple’s misconduct.”
Fortnite was pulled from Apple’s app store in mid-August after Epic Games introduced a new way to purchase its virtual currency that circumvents the tech giant’s traditional method of receiving certain percentage cuts, usually a 30 percent fee, from in-game purchases.
On August 14, Epic sued Apple, claiming it was operating a monopoly and engaging in unfair and anti-competitive actions. The developer also sued Google, after it removed Fortnite from your own app store.
Epic argued in Friday’s writing that it is “likely to suffer irreparable harm” if the Battle Royale game remains absent from Apple’s App Store. “By eliminating Fortnite from the App Store, Apple has separated millions of users from their friends and family in the Fortnite community, which is totally dependent on connectivity, “states the brief.” The clamor from users has been deafening, showing real harm to the public interest. “
The briefing went on to note that since From Fortnite removal of the app store, daily active users on iOs have decreased by more than 60 percent.
In May of this year, Fortnite surpassed 350 million registered users since its initial launch in 2017. The game has recently collaborated with musical artists like Travis Scott, who attracted more than 12 million concurrent attendees to his virtual concert in April.
An Epic Games spokesperson said in a statement: “Today we ask the Court to stop Apple from retaliating against Epic for daring to challenge Apple’s misconduct while advancing our antitrust case. Apple is a monopoly and confronting them is a necessary step towards free consumers and developers from the illegal restrictions Apple has placed on app distribution and in-app payment processing on iOS. “
The statement continued: “For too long, developers have not spoken out because they fear retaliation from Apple. Recent actions by the company show that if you challenge Apple’s monopoly, Apple will try to destroy your business. We are committed to speaking up and securing costs. lower, competitive access for all. “
See the full court order filing below.
2020-09-04 — preliminary-in … by Trilby Beresford
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