Apple won a big victory in an antitrust lawsuit against “Fortnite” developer Epic Games. Now, Google has borrowed from Apple’s winning strategy, accusing Epic of violating the developer contract, hurting the company, and putting users in a dangerous situation.
U.S. Federal Judge agreed with Apple’s claim in his 185-page judgment last month that Epic violated App Store rules to activate the hidden in the iOS version of Fortress. The code in the game “Night” violates the developer contract it signed with Apple.
Google quickly learned Apple’s defense strategy. Google reported in its 43-page court document how Epic activated similar code in the Android version of “Fortnite” game last year, accusing Epic of violating the contractual rules, resulting in “Fortnite” being Google Play is removed. Google said that Epic subsequently launched a public relations campaign aimed at discrediting and hurting Google, distracting outside attention from its breach of contract.
A Google spokesperson further argued that Epic has reached a legal agreement with Google, but it never intends to comply. Its actions put its users in a dangerous situation, hurt Google, and are worthy of court relief for the victims.
Epic’s litigation with Google and Apple began last year. At that time, Epic charged users for purchases in its “Fortress Night” game, bypassing the in-app payment systems of Google and Apple, and avoiding being drawn by the two companies. Google claimed in court documents that Epic deliberately conspired to violate the terms of the developer agreement for the purpose of not paying Google a penny. Epic admitted in its antitrust lawsuit with Apple that as part of its legal strategy, it planned a public relations campaign to fight the App Store rules.
