Apple and Alphabet's Google on Thursday removed popular video game Fortnite from their app stores for violating the companies' in-app payment guidelines, prompting developer Epic Games to file federal antitrust lawsuits challenging the two companies' rules. Apple and Google cited a direct payment feature rolled out on the Fortnite app earlier on Thursday as the violation. Epic sued in US court seeking no money from Apple or Google but rather injunctions that would end many of the companies' practices related to their app stores.
(Gadgets 360, August 14)
Ankit Malhotra's key takeaways:
- An epic battle indeed, magnified by the bad press Apple has gotten lately from the likes of Facebook, Spotify, Airbnb and ClassPass.
- An Epic win would be a gamechanger for many developers across the community, allowing them to reroute some of the flow of cash directly to their own payment gateways – resulting in dilution of control and services revenue for Apple.