Epic Games To Host Fortnite Tournament With Anti-Apple Prizes
Things have continued to escalate between Apple and Epic Games as the video game developer has decided to host its own Fortnite tournament with anti-Apple prizes. After trying to bypass Apple's payment system and mocking the company's famous "1984" advert, Epic has carried on with its assault on the tech giant by filing a lawsuit and now holding a #FreeFortnite tournament with some pretty ironic prize choices.
Gaming fans always knew that things would go from bad to worse if Apple and Epic ever fell out, however, did anyone expect it to get to this level of warfare? Since its release on iOS in 2018, Fortnite has dominated the App Store and continued to make Epic hundreds of millions of dollars every month. For a while, the two worked together in symbiotic harmony, but in a classic case of companies seeing dollar signs in their eyes, Apple and Epic have parted ways in a big way.
Posting on Twitter, Epic confirmed the #FreeFortnite tournament will take place on August 23. In a not-so subtle jibe at Apple, those who take part can win an exclusive in-game skin from the "1984" advert. The appropriately named Tart Tycoon is a homage to Apple CEO Tim Cook - who was depicted as a villainous overlord in the advert.
Elsewhere, there's a host of non-Apple prizes up for grabs, including a #FreeFortnite hat, an Alienware laptop, Galaxy Tab S7, OnePlus 8 phone, a PlayStation 4 Pro, an Xbox One X, or even a Nintendo Switch. It's quite the middle finger to Apple as things threaten to boil over. Epic reminded players that they won't be able to enjoy the massive Season 4 update that is releasing on August 27 if they stick with iOS and Mac. Gamers were encouraged to try Fortnite out on platforms like the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
The hashtag of #FreeFortnite has gathered momentum after Epic used it as part of the "1984" advert. The crux of the argument is that Epic wants Apple to stop taking its 30% cut of in-app purchases from the likes of Fortnite. Epic is on the clock though. Apple gave a deadline of August 28 for Epic to back down and axe its Epic Direct payment system. If not, Epic has been warned it will lose access to Apple's developer tools and any of its apps will be pulled from the App Store.
Looking at the bigger picture, the fall out between the two giants could have catastrophic consequences. Given that Epic is also known for developing the Unreal Engine, this means games like Mortal Kombat Mobile and even PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile could soon vanish from the Apple storefront.
What happens next remains unclear. Apple said it was going to "work with" Epic to resolve the issues, but by the looks of it, things aren't going well on that front. Even if things are probably going to escalate further, at least we can enjoy the #FreeFortnite tournament and try to pick up some great prizes.
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Images via Epic Games