Fortnite: why Epic Games is suing Apple and Google for banning Fortnite from their app stores - and the 1984 video explained

Epic Games, the developer behind popular battle royale game, Fortnite, is taking legal action against Google and Apple after being banned from the companies’ app stores.

As well as tweeting about the lawsuit, Epic Games hit out at Apple with a parody video called Nineteen-Eighty-Fortnite.

This is everything you need to know about the legal battle and the parody video.

Why did Apple ban Fortnite from its app store?

Apple banned Fortnite from its App Store after Epic Games introduced a direct payment system, which allows Epic Games to bypass Apple's commission fee for transactions.

Fortnite’s latest update offered players 20% off V-bucks - the in-game currency - but only if they paid Epic Games directly rather than using Google or Apple’s payment’s systems.

In the App Store terms, it’s outlined that Apple charges developers, like Epic Games, 15 to 30 per cent for in-app purchases or downloads.

In a statement to The Verge, Apple said that Fortnite was removed for “violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users”.

The feature from Epic Games was “not reviewed or approved by Apple” according to Apple.

How did Epic Games respond?

On the official Fortnite Twitter account, a tweet posted on 13 August read “Epic Games has filed legal papers in response to Apple,” with a link to the official papers.

Epic Games has encouraged players to “join the fight” against Apple by using the hashtag #FreeFortnite on social media.

Epic also released a short film titled Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite, a play of George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

What’s the 1984 parody film about?

Epic Games’ film Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite is a parody of Apple’s 1984-themed TV advert about fighting a police state.

It shows a black and white scene of people watching a huge TV screen that’s broadcasting a character with a giant apple for a head, closely resembling the Apple logo.

The character is also wearing glasses similar to those of Tim Cook, the Apple Chief Executive, in his official photograph on the company’s website.

The Apple character is seen talking about its control of the system, saying: “Today, we celebrate the anniversary of the platform unifications directives.

“For years, they have given us their songs, their labour, their dreams. In exchange, we have taken our tribute, our profits, our control. The power is ours and ours alone. We shall prevail.”

While the apple-headed character talks, a colourful Fortnite character can be seen running through a corridor before she swings a giant unicorn shaped club against the TV, blowing it up.

As she walks away, text scrolls up onto the screen which reads: “Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly. In retaliation, Apple is blocking Fortnite from a billion devices. Join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming 1984. #FreeFortnite.”

The images in both the parody video from Epic Games and the original advert from Apple are an allusion to George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 which told the story of a dystopian future ruled by a televised “Big Brother”.

Is Epic Games suing Google too?

Initially, Fortnite had only been removed from the Apple App Store, but a tweet posted by Fortnite on 14 August states that “Fortnite is currently unavailable on Google Play”.

Epic Games is taking legal action against Google as well, now that Fortnite has been removed from the Google Play app store.

Compared to the high profile response Epic Games has issued in response to Apple, with the parody video and asking its users to rally against the app store, Epic Games has been quiet in response to Google.

Documents do show, however, the Epic Games has filed a complaint against Google in California court, the same as it did with Apple.

Google also takes a compulsory 30 per cent cut from sales in the Play Store, the same as Apple.

The documents describe a deal that Epic Games had made with mobile phone brand OnePlus to make its games available “seamlessly” on their devices.

However, as the documents reveal, “Google forced OnePlus to renege on the deal, citing Google’s ‘particular concern’ about Epic having the ability to install and update mobile games while ‘bypassing the Google Play Store’.”

It also explained how LG was also prevented by Google from adding Epic Games software to its devices.

In response to Epic Games, Google issued a statement, saying: “The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple store apps.

“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.”

How have fans reacted?

Fan response to the parody video and legal action from Epic Games has been mixed, with comments on Youtube and Twitter stating that breaking the rules has consequences.

One Twitter user wrote: “You broke the rules so obviously it was going to be taken down, you ain’t special or anything.”

“People are dying, the world is on fire, I could not possibly care less that your billion dollar game is not making as much money as it was yesterday,” one person tweeted.

A YouTube commenter wrote: “Epic: bans players for violating the rules… Apple: bans Epic for violating their agreement… Epic: angry.”

“There’s something rather gross about rallying your overwhelmingly young fanbase in service of what is ostensibly a revenue dispute between two billion-dollar tech companies. Very slimy, Epic,” comment another.

Can users still play Fortnite on mobile devices?