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Dec 5, 2023 · The future of Google’s app store is at stake in a lawsuit by Fortnite publisher Epic Games. Epic sued Google in 2020 after a fight over in-app purchase fees, claiming the Android operating ...
Nov 5, 2023 · The Fortnite lawsuit is back — the Epic v. Google trial finally kicks off November 6th, with Epic Games dragging Google into court to defend its Google Play app store against antitrust claims.
Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right.
Oct 18, 2024 · The future of Google’s app store is at stake in a lawsuit by Fortnite publisher Epic Games. Epic sued Google in 2020 after a fight over in-app purchase fees, claiming the Android operating...
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- Pre-Trial
According to Washington Post reporter Shannon Liao, Apple CEO Tim Cook is unlikely to testify in the Apple vs. Epic court case until the very last day of testimony. The judge in the case asked on the behalf of reporters when Cook might appear, and Apple's lawyers said it would likely be the final day. The court case is projected to run until May 21...
Week Two began with Epic marketing boss Matt Weissinger testifying about Fortnite's popularity on mobile. He said Fortnite has the biggest growth potential overall on mobile. That's in part because not everyone owns a console or a gaming PC, but a much bigger percentage own a smartphone that could play Fortnite. Weissinger testified that Epic has b...
New Emails
A newly released email from Epic's CEO Tim Sweeney showed Sweeney complaining about companies spending money to have their apps highlighted in the App Store. The recipient of the email was redacted. Sweeney said he was frustrated that Fortnite didn't show up in some searches. He also said, "I can only imagine how an indie developer must feel when they're trying to make a living and the $900B company that runs the App Store sells their search result to a $730B company. This is an awful practic...
"Blindsided"
During his testimony on Thursday, Apple's App Store manager Matt Fischer discussed Apple's relationship with Epic. He said both companies seemed to enjoy a positive, mutually beneficial relationship over the years. Fischer pointed out that Apple and Epic worked together to show off Infinity Blade on stage during an Apple presentation. This was so successful that Apple invited Epic to return to promote the next Infinity Blade series. Over time, however, the relationship appeared to have broken...
Xbox Exec Testifies
One of the most notable developments on Wednesday, May 5, was testimony from Xbox's Lori Wright. She spoke about Xbox's involvement in the digital games landscape. Among other things, she addressed who she believes to be competitors to Xbox. Wright said the main competitor to Xbox is PlayStation, and Nintendo to a lesser degree. She was more clear about iPhone, saying, "We don't see an iPhone as a competing device." Wright also confirmed in her testimony that Xbox hardware is sold at a loss,...
A document entered into evidence included mention of competing titles that Microsoft believed might release in 2020. These include a pair of high-profile Nintendo games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and Metroid Prime 4.
Sweeney Says Sony's Stance On Cross-Play Could Be Illegal
A redacted document entered into evidenceon Wednesday showed an email between Tim Sweeney and PlayStation executive Phil Rosenberg concerning PlayStation's stance on cross-play. The email, which is dated to June 2018, includes some strong words from Sweeney. He said in the email, "Sony's interoperability restrictions have put both of our companies in an untenable position adversarial to our customers. Many Fortnite players are kids, and their friendships are being torn apart by Sony's segrega...
Tim Sweeney Doesn't Have A PS5
The trial continued on Tuesday, May 4, and a big chunk of the early testimony came from Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. Among other things, Sweeney revealed that he does not have a PlayStation 5 at home, though he does have one in the office.
Tim Sweeney And Phil Spencer Email Exchanges:
Documents included as evidence in the case included email exchanges between Sweeney and Xbox boss Phil Spencer regarding cross-play and other business practices. In another exchange, Sweeney apparently called on Phil Spencer to offer free Xbox Live multiplayer around the time Epic's big play to begin its battle with Apple over Fortnite. This ultimately didn't happen, but Sweeney capped off his message to Spencer by saying, "You'll enjoy the upcoming fireworks show," presumably in reference to...
Sealed Documents
Some of the documents that became public on Monday at the start of the trial were never intended to be made available for everyone to see. The judge in the case said, "Some of these documents I ordered sealed over the weekend were in fact released. I'm not sure if at this point whether the genie is out of the bottle." Some of the documents appeared to contain information that the relevant parties might not have wanted the world to see. One such document pertained to Sony's policies regarding...
A document obtained from the trial revealed several potential characters coming to Fortnite. These may not all come to pass, but it's a unique look inside Epic Games and its expansive plans to keep wrapping up more popular characters into its Fortnite metaverse. Those included additions like Nintendo's Samus Aran, musicians like Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga, and actor The Rock. Some of these were presented as part of Fortnite's "Icons" series, which so far has centered around professional Fort...
Among the disclosures revealed at the start of trial, we saw a series of emails exchanged between Epic Games and Sony in 2018 related to Sony's reluctance to allow cross-play on its platform. Epic courted Sony with offers of ideas like a unique character for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and said their partnership could "make Sony look like heroes." SIE senior director Gio Corsi rejected the proposals, saying they were good ideas but unconvinced that they showed cross-platform play would be g...
As part of Epic's financial disclosures in the trial, the company revealed that over 2018 and 2019 its headline game Fortnite made $9 billion. We don't know how much of that is profit, however. The financial revelations didn't stop there, as we also learned how much Epic paid out to various platform partners between January 2017 and October 2020. In that time, it paid approximately $237 million to Apple, $246 million to Microsoft, and $451 million to Sony. This was presented by Apple as evide...
As part of the pre-trial court documents, we learned that despite the massive install base of iOS device users, it's not the largest Fortnite platform by a long shot. In fact, PS4 was the biggest driver of Fortnite revenues from March 2018 through July 2020, with Xbox One following in second. Apple's iOS devices accounted for only 7% of total Fortnite revenue during the period.
In its disclosures before the trial began, Epic Games indirectly revealed that it is intentionally withholding Fortnite from appearing on Xbox's streaming service. The service, which was called xCloud in testing, has not received Fortnite because Epic views the service to be in competition with Epic's own PC offerings.
Dec 12, 2023 · Fortnite was removed from the App Store, and subsequently from Google Play, in 2020 after Epic Games implemented its own payments system, bypassing Apple’s own — and thereby bypassing Apple’s...
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May 20, 2021 · Monday, May 3 marked the start of the Epic Games v. Apple trial in Oakland, California, with the two companies facing off over the iOS developer’s August removal of Fortnite from the App...
