Fortnite for iOS and macOS Will No Longer Be Cross-Platform When New Season Launches

[MacRumors]

Epic Games tomorrow plans to launch a new season of Fortnite, which is where new content, skins, map updates, and objectives are introduced for players to keep the gameplay fresh and dynamic. This week's season is Marvel themed.

This morning, Epic Games confirmed that it has no plans to give in and remove the direct payment option from the Fortnite app on iOS devices, which means the app continues to be in violation of the App Store rules and cannot be updated. Fortnite for iPhone, iPad, and Mac will not get the new season.

In addition, when the new season is released, Fortnite for iOS and macOS players will no longer be able to play the game alongside Fortnite players on PCs, Android devices, and consoles, as there will be two separate versions of the game. The updated version with the Chapter 2 Season 4 content available to Fortnite players on other platforms, and the non-updated version of Fortnite on Apple's platforms.

Epic Games confirmed to The Verge that cross-platform play will not be possible, and iPhone, iPad, and Mac Fortnite players will only be able to play with one another. That means Fortnite users who have friends on other platforms will not be able to play with those friends.

Epic was hoping to get a temporary restraining order from a judge that would have forced Apple to allow Fortnite to remain in the App Store and be updated while the court case plays out, but the judge ruled against Epic Games because the current situation is of its own making.

The judge who made the decision told Epic that all it needs to do is "take it back to the status quo and no one suffers any harm," but Epic is apparently refusing to do so. During the hearing for the restraining order, Epic's lawyers said that the company wouldn't "go back into an anticompetitive contract." Epic has updated its FAQ with a similar statement:

Apple is asking that Epic revert Fortnite to exclusively use Apple payments. Their proposal is an invitation for Epic to collude with Apple to maintain their monopoly over in-app payments on iOS, suppressing free market competition and inflating prices. As a matter of principle, we won't participate in this scheme.

Apple on August 28 plans to terminate the Epic Games developer accounts, and it's not entirely clear what will happen when that occurs. Fortnite could stop working entirely, or it could continue to run in its current incarnation on devices that have already downloaded it.

It's not clear why Fortnite couldn't be updated on macOS because it's not distributed through the Mac App Store, but it seems that Epic Games is going to withhold updates on all Apple platforms.

Though Fortnite is in danger and will not be updated on Apple devices, Apple has been blocked from terminating the developer accounts for Epic International, which handles the Unreal Engine. Apple had originally planned to terminate the Epic Games developer account and all linked accounts, but Epic was able to get a temporary restraining order to prevent that from happening.

A hearing for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for September 28, and that's the next opportunity for either Epic or Apple to get a new decision that will shift the current orders. Unless Epic Games decides to comply with the App Store rules, Fortnite will be unable to be updated for at least the next month, if it continues to work at all after the Epic Games developer account is terminated.

Article Link: Fortnite for iOS and macOS Will No Longer Be Cross-Platform When New Season Launches

 

[farewelwilliams]

Epic's actions are hurting iOS indie devs by not paying the 30% that funds many developer resources.

 

[FloatingBones]

Epic failure.

 

[Freida]

Glad Epic is standing its ground!

 

[spymousetruck]

Epic's actions are hurting iOS indie devs by not paying the 30% that funds many developer resources.

Yet, the 30% does not at all fund the developer resources. With this 30%, Apple makes a disproportionate amount of profit above and beyond what you'd otherwise imagine. What hurts indie developers the most is the inequality they face with the current 15/30 split given to companies / industries of choice or to those that choose to go down the God-awful "subscription on all things" business route.

 

[cmaier]

Epic: don’t pick on unreal engine - it has nothing to do with this!
Also Epic: no macos fortnite for you, even though it has nothing to do with this!

 

[Scottsoapbox]

99% sure Epic planned on this outcome.
It hurts Apple's customers as well as its own.

 

[icanhazmac]

Yet, the 30% does not at all fund the developer resources. With this 30%, Apple makes profit above and beyond what you'd otherwise imagine.

Source? Please site, I'll wait.......

 

[I7guy]

Glad Apple is standing their ground!

 

[rp2011]

Ballsy. Got to give him that. When you got billions of dollars, you can walk away. Which also means Epic wasn’t being impacted by Apple’s App Store fees. They just wanted to see if they could get a bigger slice.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

12 year olds will be raging... Apple must be absolutely devastated.

 

[iReality85]

10 vbucks says Epic goes back to the status quo just before midnite.

 

[MrGimper]

I fear I’m missing something. In what world do Epic feel that they can come out of this on top?

 

[sully54]

Regardless of which side you support, the whole purpose of the legal proceedings is to determine the validity of Apple's alleged anti-competitive practices. Let the courts determine that with a ruling. In the meantime, Epic has a duty to its users to provide a service and they are abandoning that commitment by not doing everything in their power to reduce disruption among its users.

If Epic wins, then not only does Apple have to change its policies, but Apple would also be on the hook for the 30% that they would have taken from Epic.

This is now just petty of Epic.

 

[clive27]

I guess people will start downloading an Android emulator to play with friends.

 

[spymousetruck]

Source? Please site, I'll wait.......

Apple's yearly earning reports and their overall valuation. Oh and some common sense. Had that been the case, developers with free apps are taking Apple for a ride.

 

[topdrawer]

Source? Please site, I'll wait.......

check out the release notes on game dev frameworks for mac/ios, they hardly ever get updated. i submitted several bug reports over the past 3 years and only one got addressed and only half assed over a year later (i actually don't know if it was fully addressed because i have to install big sur beta to find out). apple does very mininal work on game dev tools, if it wasn't for unreal and unity we wouldn't have the better games on the platform. The last update for Scenekit was almost 3 years ago. i assure you most games on apple arcade are not made with the apple frameworks but with epics and unity engines.

 

[djcerla]

Epic managed to make Apple look good.

 

[ViDeOmAnCiNi]

That's right Epic, punish the Apple users. That'll make Apple alter the percentage that every other dev pays. Thanks for nothing jerks.

 

[satchmo]

Ballsy. Got to give him that. When you got billions of dollars, you can walk away. Which also means Epic wasn’t being impacted by Apple’s App Store fees. They just wanted see of they could get a bigger slice.

Given both have deep pockets, neither feel compelled to give in. But in the end both actually end up losing millions.

 

[krfr]

We’ll see how long it lasts. Eventually they’re going to want the income from iOS and silently adhere to the App Store rules. Or they will fade out. Either way, I’m not affected by this.

 

[ArPe]

They could release on the Epic Store on macOS if they weren’t being stubborn puppets for the CCP. Apple or Microsoft don’t make anything from that desktop app.

But the quicker people give up Fortnite the better anyway. I worry that all this online role play has spilled over violently into the real world. That’s worth thinking about and investigating no matter what our opinions of games are. Some people can be affected by spending too much time in a fantasy.

 

[dontwalkhand]

I don't think Apple will really lose many customers. Gamers will generally want to play on their gaming rigs, and not a phone. I don't think anyone will choose their phone based on the availability of an app, especially if the app is a game.

 

[PickUrPoison]

It’s their choice of course, but Epic treating Fortnite players as pawns in their little stunt shows just how little Epic care about them.

 

[JeffPerrin]

I'm guessing once the laundry is done and Epic investors see how much money is lost in iOS revenue, Epic's CEO will get ****-canned for engaging in such a reckless strategy.