Apple decided to ban the ‘Fortnite’ online game after Epic Games implemented a system that allowed players to make in-game purchases bypassing the fees charged by the App Store.
As with Apple, Google made the decision to remove ‘Fortnite’ from its Play Store, this after Epic Games created a system that allowed them to circumvent the fees charged in the online store for purchases made by players within the app.
Unlike Apple, which only allows its app store on the iOS system, Google has no problems with the existence of multiple virtual stores in the Android ecosystem.
Epic Games sued Apple for deciding to remove ‘Fortnite‘ from its online store, accusing ‘Apple Company’ of unfair and anti-competitive practices and having monopoly power in the iOS app distribution market.
The accusation against Google is similar, but in this case, the ‘Fortnite’ producer may have a harder time convincing the California court as the Android ecosystem is more ‘relaxed’ than Apple’s iOS. Still, removing ‘Fortnite’ from the online store isn’t the sole reason for Epic Games’s complaint.
Epic Games also claims that Google forced smartphone maker OnePlus to withdraw from a deal that would include ‘Fortnite’ among apps preinstalled on the brand’s devices. Moreover, LG must also have been pressured by Google not to include Epic Games ‘launcher’ in its new smartphones. Google did not react to these allegations.
