Epic Games' Lawsuit Fires a Shot at Apple's App Store 'Monopoly'

Fortnite creator Epic Games launched a spear at Apple’s gatekept iOS App Store market today with a lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Northern California. The move aligns with the developer’s years-long quest to disrupt digital marketplaces and their associated fees—and comes as Apple has faced increased antitrust scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

Alleging that Apple’s grip over the iOS market is “unreasonable and unlawful,” Epic Games seeks to force access to more apps and payment processing options on iOS. The lawsuit came just moments after Apple removed Fortnite from its iOS store for instituting an in-app payment system that let users circumvent Apple altogether, a violation of App Store guidelines. “Apple’s removal of Fortnite is yet another example of Apple flexing its enormous power in order to impose unreasonable restraints and unlawfully maintain its 100 percent monopoly over the iOS in-app payment processing market,” said an Epic Games representative.

Epic Games’ Fortnite boasts 350 million players, some of whom access the bubblegummy shooter on iOS devices. As with all iPhone and iPad apps, the only way for iOS users to download it is through Apple’s App Store. While Fortnite is free to install, it brings in serious money through in-app payments—about $60 million in the past three months alone, after Apple takes its standard 30 percent cut, according to app analytics company Apptoptia. It’s consistently among the five top-grossing apps in the App Store.