Update: Well, it seems Apple isn't taking Epic Games' direct payment scheme lying down -- they've officially kicked Fornite off the App Store. Here's what Apple had to say about the situation...
Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store. Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.
Original Story: People have a lot of strong opinions about Epic Games, but you have give them credit for passing some of the benefits of their massive success onto developers and customers. For instance, Epic just announced that they’ll be permanently reducing the cost of Fortnite’s V-Bucks premium currency by 20 percent. That means 1000 V-Bucks will now cost $8 instead of $10. Would you ever catch EA or Activision doing something like that? Not in a million years.
Now, of course, as with everything Epic does, this move isn’t entirely altruistic. This is largely a “screw you” to Google and Apple, as Epic head honcho Tim Sweeney has long criticized them for skimming 30 percent off the top of every Google Play and App Store purchase. Epic is now offering “direct payment,” which bypasses Google and Apple’s fees, and they’re passing some of the savings on to the consumer. And hey, in order to keep everyone on the same page, PC and console players are getting the discount too.
Here are a few more details about the big V-Bucks markdown:
V-Bucks and real-money offers can now be purchased at new prices discounted up to 20% on console and PC/Mac. On mobile, you can select Epic direct payment to get your new discount (not yet available in all countries - more countries coming soon).
Players that purchased V-Bucks or purchased a real-money offer like Summer Legends in the last 30 days (July 14, 2020 - August 13, 2020) will be granted a V-Bucks bonus by August 17! The V-Bucks bonus will be 20% of the total purchase amount during that time frame. To celebrate the Fortnite Mega Drop, we’re gifting all active players the Shooting Starstaff Pickaxe for Free.
Fortnite is available now on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Android devices.
About the author: Professional writer of trivial things. Nathan has been covering games, entertainment, and online culture for over a decade with bylines at IGN, GameSpy, Cracked, Uproxx, ComicBook, and more. Joined Wccftech gaming team in 2017, and has written hundreds of game reviews and thousands of news stories since.
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