After a very public spat between Epic Games and Apple, Google has also removed the game from its app store.
What you need to know
- Google removed Fortnite from the Play Store Thursday following an in-game currency update that would allow players to use Epic to make in-app purchase directly through Epic.
- Epic founder Tim Sweeney has spoken out against Google and Apple for its app store policies.
- This follows the game being removed from the Apple App Store. Epic Games also filed a suit against Apple.
After a hubub earlier today concerning , Google has followed suit.
The widely-popular game was removed from the App Store where Epic Games would allow users to make in-app purchases directly through Epic instead of through Google or Apple. The option would also give users a discount on things like V-Bucks that would only be available through Epic. The new payment system was also installed within the app.
"Get up to 20% savings on V-Bucks and real-money offers for every purchase on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mac, and on mobile when using select payment methods," the blog post read.
A Google spokesperson issued a statement to on the situation and offered a similar explanation as to why the app was removed as Apple:
The Apple removal kicked off a public outcry from Epic, which announced that it was suing Apple. In a 62-page injunction filed in a California court (and ) Epic stated that Apple had become a "behemoth seeking to control markets" and that it filed the suit to "end Apple's unfair and anti-competitive actions that Apple undertakes to unlawfully maintain its monopoly."
Google is not the defendant in the lawsuit, but appears multiple times. The document states that like iOS, Google's Android is essentially one of two operating systems that users can decide between and that together, iOS and Android account "for nearly 100% of the worldwide mobile OSs." It also states that Google "engages in simliar anti-competitive conduct."
Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney has been outspoken about how he feels about both the Apple App Store and the Play Store and how each implements a 30% store fee for apps.
"This is a critical consideration in these 30 percent store fees," wrote Sweeney on last month. "They come off the top, before funding any developer costs. As a result, Apple and Google make more profit from most developers' games than the developers themselves. That is terribly unfair and exploitative."
This isn't the first time that Google and Epic have butted heads. For around 18 months, Fortnite wasn't available in the Google Play Store in defiance of Google's 30% fee policy but could still be sideloaded onto devices. It was due to what Epic called "disadvantages" Google puts on apps located outside the Play Store.
"Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage, through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings," an Epic spokesperson said.
A statement from Epic also said that it had to not use Google's payment service for in-app purchases, but Google said no.
"Epic doesn't seek a special exception for ourselves; rather we expect to see a general change to smartphone industry practices in this regard," it read.
In the meantime, it still appears to be available through the Samsung Galaxy Store, so Samsung users can play it.
Epic Games has not yet commented on the Google situation at the time of publication.