Fortnite is not pulling any punches, and while Epic Games and Apple's feud has been brought to the public's attention again, this shows that their conflict has been growing to a larger level than observers may have anticipated. Fortnite has already released a short film to clap back at Apple and bring awareness to the issue that is currently ongoing.
Epic Games is filing a lawsuit against Apple since it banned the Fortnite app from the iOS app store. Apple currently has a monopoly on in-app purchases and the way they are operated, but Epic Games tried to implement a discount if the players purchased in-game currency directly from Epic. Apple wasn't happy with this action, so the company removed Fortnite from its app store. In response, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple and released a new video.
In the video, black and white Fornite characters are sitting in front of a screen, where an Apple-headed character is preaching about the anniversary of "platform unification." The other characters watch the Apple character with blank, slack-jawed expressions as they listen to the message.
However, another character runs on the scene as the Apple character speaks about the profit it takes from this endeavor. The new character is decked out in rainbow apparel and looks briefly at the screen before hurling her axe at the screen. The brightly-colored axe shatters the screen, waking the other characters out of their trace, and the character who saved them walks away from the screen.
The Fortnite video is based on an Apple commercial that was launched in 1984. The original commercial introduced the world to the first Macintosh personal computer, saying that "1984 won't be like '1984'" and referencing to the dystopian novel. This video reenacts that older commercial, except Epic Games cast Apple in the role of the villain. Epic Games published this video to raise player awareness of this issue. At the time of writing, Apple has not publicly commented on the video.
Apple has been causing issues for many different gaming services that are attempting to reach gamers who use Apple products. Microsoft is unable to launch Project xCloud due to Apple blocking it from the iOS app store, and Facebook Gaming's app had to be limited to viewing streams because of Apple's strict rules for gaming apps. While Epic Games may have its own motivations for releasing this video and making these points, many others are taking how ethical Apple's restrictions are into deeper consideration.
Fortnite is free-to-play on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in development.