The maker of Fortnite is suing Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) after the technology giants blocked its wildly popular online video game from their app stores.
The companies behind the iOS and Google Play app stores said they removed Fortnite because its developer, Epic Games, violated their guidelines by announcing a way for players to buy in-game currency without using Apple and Google's proprietary payment systems.
Epic Games lawsuit is 60 pages long and one of the lawyers involved is Christine Varney, who previously ran the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division. Epic Games also ran a video parodying Apple's iconic "1984" advertisement, casting Apple in the role of a villain.
The controversy began when Epic Games announced that it will offer a permanent 20% discount on Fortnite's in-game currency if players purchase directly from Epic. In a blog post, Epic said players could not get the discount if they paid via Apple or Google systems. Epic's post referred to how both Apple and Google take a 30% cut of in-app sales.
Hours later, Fortnite was removed from Apple's app store and Epic Games responded with its lawsuit. It requested an injunction to prohibit Apple's allegedly anticompetitive conduct and to mandate that Apple restore competition.
"Apple's removal of Fortnite is yet another example of Apple flexing its enormous power in order to impose unreasonable restraints and unlawfully maintain its 100% monopoly over the iOS in-app payment processing market," Epic Games said in its complaint, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
Apple said Thursday that Epic had violated its App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments. However, Apple said it is willing to work with Epic to resolve the violations so that Fortnite can return to the App Store.
Later Thursday, Google said it too had removed Fortnite from the Google Play Store, though the game can still be installed from other sources on Android devices. In response, Epic filed another lawsuit against Google.
