FORTNITE has announced an anti-Apple tournament where you can win gadgets from rival tech firms.
It’s the latest jab in an ongoing brawl between the two firms that began after Apple banned Fortnite for breaching its rules.
Last week, Apple deleted Fortnite from its App Store after the game maker tried to dodge the iPhone maker’s 30% cut.
Both firms are now embroiled in a legal dispute, and Fortnite is making a PR bid for fans with a new #FreeFortnite tournament.
“If you’re left behind on iOS after the Chapter 2 – Season 4 launch, the party continues on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, GeForce Now, and through both the Epic Games app and the Samsung Galaxy Store,” wrote Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite.
“Join the fight against App Store on social with #FreeFortnite.
“All of your friends. Awesome prizes. And one bad apple. We’re dropping the #FreeFortnite Cup.”
You can find the tournament in-game at different times in various regions.
For four hours, you’ll have the opportunity to win prizes.
You get 1 point for every three minutes on the BR island, plus 1 point per elimination.
You’ll also get 10 points for each Victory Royale.
The prizes are all devices not linked to Apple:
- Alienware Gaming Laptop
- Samsung Galaxy Tab S7
- OnePlus 8 – 90FPS on a phone
- PlayStation 4 Pro
- Xbox One X
- Nintendo Switch
The tournament begins on Sunday, August 23.
It follows last week’s shock Fortnite ban by Apple and Google, which saw the game removed from sale on the iPhone’s App Store and Android’s Play Store.
Fortnite developer Epic Games is suing the companies over the restrictions, which were issued after Epic violated in-app payment guidelines.
Apple and Google cited a direct payment feature rolled out on the Fortnite app on Thursday as the violation.
Previously, Epic used in-app payment systems that gave Google and Apple a large share of any funds generated from player purchases.
Epic sued in US court seeking no money from Apple or Google, but rather injunctions that would end many of the companies’ app store practices.
The California firms have come under fire in recent years for operating alleged “monopolies” in which they stifle competition and take colossal cuts on sales made through their app stores.
“Apple has become what it once railed against: The behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation,” Epic said in its lawsuit against Apple, filed in the Northern District of California.
“Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear.”
In a separate lawsuit against Google, Epic referenced the company’s now-infamous mantra, “Don’t Be Evil”.
“Twenty-two years later, Google has relegated its motto to nearly an afterthought.”
Epic also attacked Apple on social media, launching a campaign with the hashtag #FreeFortnite.
The company urged players to seek refunds from Apple if they lost access to the game, and created a parody of Apple’s famous “1984” television ad.
In the parody, which quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of views, a female Fortnite fighter hurls a unicorn-shaped club to smash a screen on which an Apple-headed character speaks of “the anniversary of the platform unification directives.”
Apple takes a cut of between 15 and 30 per cent for most app subscriptions and payments made inside apps.
There are some exceptions for companies that already have a credit card on file for iPhone customers if they also offer an in-app payment that would benefit Apple.
Analysts believe games are the biggest contributor to spending inside the App Store, which is in turn the largest component of Apple’s $46billion-per-year (£35billion) services segment.
In a statement, Apple said Fortnite was removed because Epic had launched the payment feature with the “express intent of violating the App Store guidelines” after having had apps in the store for a decade.
“The fact that their (Epic) business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users,” Apple said.
Google also removed Fortnite from its Play Store, but the company’s spokesman Dan Jackson declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by Reuters.
“However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play,” he said in a statement.
The recent ban means it’s impossible to download Fortnite through the official Apple and Google stores.
However, handsets with Fortnite still installed are being sold for thousands of pounds online.
Most of the listings fall somewhere between $2,000 and $7,000.
That’s far above the typical price of a used iPhone, which could range from just a few hundred pounds to slightly north of $1,000, depending on the model.
It seems few “Fortnite handsets” are actually selling at these vastly inflated prices.
But HOAR has seen a “completed listing” – which means the product has sold and shipped – for $3,800 in the US.
In other news, a Mum was left devastated after her Fortnite addict son splashed $20,000 on Twitch live-streamers.
Samsung’s new Note 20 smartphone comes with Xbox games as part of its bid to topple Apple’s iPhone.
Microsoft will launch a second new console later this year dubbed the Xbox Series S, photos leaked online suggest.
