Fortnite Removed from Apple's App Store, Lawsuit Launched

Epic Games, the maker of the smash hit game Fortnite, has filed a lawsuit against Apple after the tech company removed the game from its App Store.

The game was removed from Apple’s App Store after Epic “began offering players a discount on in-game purchases if they opted to make a direct payment and not buy their digital offerings through the App Store,” according to Market Watch.

Apple has been criticized for years for charging developers 30% of purchases made through the App Store. The number goes down to 15% after the first year of subscriptions.

The Fortnite app has been downloaded more than 125 million times and has generated more than $1 billion in player spending on just Apple iOS devices.

Epic’s lawsuit seeks “to end Apple’s unfair and anticompetitive actions that Apple undertakes to unlawfully maintain its monopoly.” This monopoly is in reference to in-app purchases and app distribution.

An Apple spokesperson says that the company will “make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.”

A big star did an animated concert in the middle of the Fortnite app earlier this year.