Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has explained more details about why the Fortnite creators are taking on both Apple and Google in lawsuits.
On August 13, Epic Games made the decision to give players the option to pay for Fortnite’s V-Bucks directly through the app rather than include Apple and their app store.
Many gaming experts suggested that this move would be in violation of Apple’s policies and it wasn’t long after that the battle royale was taken off the app store. Epic quickly struck back to Apple’s move with its parody of their classic ‘1984’ advert and subsequent #FreeFortnite campaign.
Google followed in Apple’s footsteps by also removing Fortnite from the Google Play Store, prompting an additional lawsuit from Epic.
With the battle against both Apple and Google playing out very publicly, many Fortnite fans have their own ideas about why Epic are proceeding with their lawsuits.
Though, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has explained a few reasons of his own. “At the most basic level, we’re fighting for the freedom of people who bought smartphones to install apps from sources of their choosing, the freedom for creators of apps to distribute them as they choose, and the freedom of both groups to do business directly,” he tweeted on August 14.
Sweeney followed that up, stating that the notion that “smartphone makers can do whatever they want” is an “awful” one and that developers “need to fight to defend our rights against whoever would deny them.”
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The primary opposing argument is: "Smartphone markers can do whatever they want". This as an awful notion.
We all have rights, and we need to fight to defend our rights against whoever would deny them. Even if that means fighting a beloved company like Apple.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 14, 2020
On top of that, Epic’s CEO noted that their fight isn’t about getting a “special deal,” but more so “the basic freedoms of all consumers and developers.”
While Sweeney added that there’s also nothing wrong about fighting over money, he left a parting shot about “middlemen” who “use their power to separate gamers from game creators.
Finally, there's nothing wrong with fighting about money. You work hard to earn this stuff. When you spent it, the way it's divided determines whether your money funds the creation of games or is taken by middlemen who use their power to separate gamers from game creators.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 14, 2020
Neither Apple nor Google have responded to Sweeney’s tweets, but as their legal battle plays out in public, both sides will surely have a few choice words further down the line.
So, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens and if Fortnite will return to mobile devices prior to the start of Chapter 2, Season 4.
