Peely and Fishstick are back in town. Fortnite is returning to the App Store across global markets. Another round in Epic Games’ never-ending lawsuit against Apple just began on Tuesday.
Wait though.
Not Australia. Not yet.
Epic is sitting tight, waiting for a judge to clarify Apple’s payment rules. They won that case already. Still. The fine print matters.
It goes back to August 2020. Angry at the 30% cut Apple took on every skin and V-Buck purchased in-game. Epic tried letting players pay them directly. Apple didn’t like that. Pulled Fortnite off the shelves entirely. Claimed Apple was hiding cheaper options from developers who wanted to talk to customers without the middleman taking a massive hike.
Remember last May? California called it out. A judge ruled Apple was playing dirty with web transactions. Bad faith. Anticompetitive. So Fortnite came back to US devices. Then in March, Google folded a bit. Lowered fees from 30 to 20%. Allowed other payment options. The door opened slightly there too.
The game itself? Free to download. Consoles. PCs. Phones.
The money is in the cosmetics. Battle Passes. Emotes. That currency everyone chases.
An Apple rep said nothing. Or rather, nothing came through for this story.
Sweeney wants it all
Tim Sweeney took to X. He’s ready for the “final battle.”
According to him, Apple is breaking the rules by changing fees depending on which country you live in. Keeping secrets. Delaying justice for fun or profit.
“Apple has fragmented iOS features and fees,” he wrote. “Intentionally delaying the pursuit of justice.”
Epic claims this move back onto the store is leverage. A way to force the US federal court to make Apple show its receipts. Transparent fees.
We are confident that once Apple is forced to open the books, governments worldwide won’t tolerate these junk fees.
They say regulations in Japan. The EU. The UK. All there on paper. Apple finds a way around them anyway. Pop-up warnings (“scare screens”). Hidden costs. Onerous requirements just to stay relevant. Regulators need to stop talking and start enforcing.
Does it help anyone else? Probably.
Dmitri Williams at USC thinks so. He says Sweeney isn’t just protecting his own wallet. This feels personal. Principled.
“Tim Sweeney has put his money where his mouth has always been.”
If Epic actually pulls this off. If they break the monopoly.
What does it mean for indie devs? Or casual players tired of high prices?
Probably cheaper games. Or at least better choices. Forcing Apple to soften up helps every business on the store, Williams suggests. Pain shared. Maybe even reduced.
Who wins?
Probably you. Maybe. Let’s see how the rest of the world reacts.
