A court case to decide the fate of Fortnite on Apple devices will kick off May 3, 2021. But the arguments Epic Games and Apple will take before a judge are about more than a single game, albeit a very popular one. The court’s decision might have far-reaching implications for the iPhone App Store and Apple’s business.
Here’s a slightly crazy statistic: Gamers around the world have spent a combined 10.4 million years playing Fortnite, according to a new report. That’s considerably longer than the 6 million years humans have been around in some form.
In total, the top 10 games played online have been played for some 19.2 million years. World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Grand Theft Auto V and Witcher 3 make up the rest of the top five.
The Apple vs. Epic Games antitrust lawsuit could come down to jurors to decide. According to a Monday report from Bloomberg, the federal judge overseeing the case has said that a jury trial could ultimately turn out to be the best way to resolve the case.
While U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of Oakland, California has not yet ordered such a case, she indicated that it might be a scenario where jurors are the ones best equipped to decide an outcome.
Fortnite developer Epic Games has warned iPhone and iPad users that they could lose access to its hit battle royale game when updating to iOS 14. But there is a way to ensure that doesn’t happen.
We’ll show you how before you start installing the latest update.
Apple likens Epic Games’ current predicament, shut out of the App Store, to the company having “started a fire, and poured gasoline on it,” and now requesting help from the court to put it out.
Apple’s lawyers are referencing Fortnite maker Epic’s recent claims that it is suffering major harm by being blocked from the App Store. Then Apple really puts the boot in.
Fortnite developer Epic Games say Apple issued it an “indefinite extension” for use of the “Sign in with Apple” API.
Epic previously said Apple would stop it offering this feature, meaning that people who signed up using the Apple login service would have been unable to access their Epic Games accounts.
While Epic, the makers of battle royale game Fortnite, wage war against Apple, rival title PUBG Mobile goes from strength to strength in terms of player spending.
According to app analytics platform Sensor Tower, PUBG has just passed a major milestone: surpassing $3.5 billion in lifetime spending. Of that, $500 million comes in the past 72 days alone while people were stuck home during coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Epic Games’ ongoing battle with Apple has made it so that you will no longer be able to log into your Fortnite account using “Sign in with Apple” from September 11, 2020. If you don’t save your account today, you could lose access to the game — and all your data.
Fortunately, salvaging your account is simple, and it only takes a couple minutes. We’ll show you how.
The Epic Games v. Apple fight got a bit uglier on Tuesday. For the first time, the iPhone-maker asked that Epic Games pay damages for breach of contract. The two companies are arguing over whether Apple has the right to 30% of in-app purchases in the wildly-successful game Fortnite.
In the latest development in Epic Games’ battle with Apple, the Fortnite-maker requested that a court require Apple to return the game to the App Store and restore Epic’s developer account.
Lawyers for the company argue that Epic is “likely to suffer irreparable harm” if this is not done.
Ridley Scott, who directed Apple’s famous 1984 Super Bowl TV advertisement, is less than pleased with the parody version Epic Games released last month.
The original ad introduced the Apple Macintosh to the world. Epic Games’ version seeks to portray itself as the underdog in a legal fight with Apple over App Store policies.
Cult of Mac’s Ian Fuchs says new features in iPadOS 14 make the Apple Pencil an indispensable tool — even for people who aren’t artists.
That’s the cover story in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now for that story, plus the latest Apple news, leaks, how-tos and reviews. (In case you hadn’t noticed, Apple’s battle with Fortnite dev Epic Games is getting nasty.)
Apple terminated Epic Games account on the App Store on Friday. This is the latest move in a battle between the two companies over revenue from in-app purchases in the popular game Fortnite.
Fortnite itself had already been booted from the App Store, and today’s move means other offerings from Epic Games are also unavailable to iPhone and iPad users.
Apple’s lead story on the App Store Today screen is about the upcoming season of PUBG Mobile. The iPhone-maker also recently did a similar promotion for Butter Royale.
It’s clear Apple wants everyone to know that while Fortnite was kicked out of the App Store, there are other battle royale games.
It’s the end of the line for Fortnite on iOS and Mac. For now, at least. In an email sent to users, Epic Games says that users on Apple platforms will no longer be receiving new content for the game.
And, you know, to drum home the point that, as Epic is keen to suggest, Apple’s the one entirely at fault.
The court battle between Epic Games and Apple will really start affecting Fortnite players on Thursday. That’s when the next season of the wildly-popular game will drop, but not for anyone using an iPhone, iPad or Mac.
In an order issued Monday night, a U.S. district judge blocked Apple from revoking Epic Games’ developer accounts as the legal battle between the two companies moves toward trial.
The move protects Unreal Engine, Epic’s software suite that is widely used by other game developers, from becoming collateral damage in the high-profile legal battle.
Apple on Friday asked a judge to deny Epic Games’ request for a court order forcing Apple to return Fortnite to the App Store. In a filing, the iPhone-maker said Epic Games brought the ban on itself by its own actions.
The court’s decision will determine whether this wildly popular game will be available for iPhone and iPad users while a potentially lengthy court battle between Apple and Epic Games goes on.
This week on The CultCast: It’s a battle of the titans! Fortnite developer Epic Games takes Apple to court over its App Store policies, and the dev just might get its way. Plus: Apple and its stock hit another astonishing milestone; Jon Prosser was right — Apple has begun rebranding Beats; and Apple TV+ finally makes the move we’ve been waiting for: bundling premium channels for one low price.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Epic Games will hand out anti-Apple prizes in a new Fortnite tournament due to take place Sunday, August 23.
Prizes will include a “Free Fortnite” hat modeled after Apple’s classic “Think Different” branding, the in-game skin for the evil-looking Apple Big Brother character (dubbed the “Tart Tycoon”) from Fortnite‘s “1984” Mac ad parody, and more.
Fortnite is currently banned from the App Store following a big fallout between Apple and Epic Games. But for some players, that doesn’t mean it’s gone from iPhone and iPad for good.
So long as you’ve downloaded Fortnite at least once before, it’s still possible to re-download it today. We’ll show you how to do it.
Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, is recruiting a team of like-minded companies to join its fight against Apple and its App Store policies, according to a report from The Information (paywall).
The publication claims that Epic is getting in touch with other companies that disagree with the App Store’s strict rules. Two of these companies are reportedly Sonos and Spotify. However, neither of them has officially joined the coalition.
Shortly after Fortnite was unceremoniously ejected from the App Store Thursday, Epic Games dropped a — no pun intended — epic parody video depicting Apple as the same dystopian Big Brother it had railed against in its famous Nineteen Eighty-Four commercial for the original Macintosh.
But this is far from the first time Apple’s sledgehammer-tossing, Ridley Scott-directed Mac ad has been spoofed. Here are five more times that shows or companies satirized the imagery of what might be Apple’s best-known advert.
The hugely popular game Fortnite was removed from the iPhone App Store on Thursday. This move came in response to Epic Games instituting a direct payments system for in-app purchases in violation of App Store guidelines.
And Epic Games responded with a civil lawsuit that accuses the App Store of being a monopoly. And a video that harks back to the famous “1984” ad.
Epic Games launched the Fortnite Mega Drop on Thursday. This offers up to 20% discounts on in-app purchases made on iPhone, iPad or Android, as long as these are direct payments — not ones that go through the App Store or Google Play.
And V-Bucks or real-money purchases made on Mac, PC and other platforms are also discounted by up to 20%.
Update: Apple responded by expelling Fortnite from the App Store.
