Fortnite has had a turbulent time since Epic Games and Apple had a very public disagreement. The battle royale title began undercutting the policies of the Apple Store and Google Play Store by offering direct app purchases that led to a breakdown in the business relationship between the parties. As a result, Fortnite has been pulled from the Apple and Play Store. Fortunately, fans who use a Samsung can still download the game through the Samsung Galaxy Store, despite the ongoing legal party between Epic Games and app stores.
Epic Games claim that Apple and Google Play Store have monopolies on the application market and because of this they are taking too great a share of the profit of developers. While it is unusual that a company as big as Epic Games is attuned to this issue, many independent developers have sided with the company. It appears that one company that is taking advantage of this dispute is Samsung, as they make players aware of their continued relationship with Epic Games.
Samsung has reminded players that Fortnite is still available on its app store and interestingly it seems that this legal battle may have allowed the store to develop a niche. Apple has also refused to collaborate with Xbox, and its highly anticipated cloud gaming plans, after citing that there were too many games for the company to regulate. Samsung is also enabling this function and this could mean that players who want to access mobile games and console titles on the move may want to look into the offering from Samsung as it seems to be more equipped for gaming functions.
The stance from Samsung has drawn a range of opinions that support and disagree with the action that the store has taken. On the one hand, many Android users are happy that they still have access to the game through a relatively easy to use app store. Other users are condemning the actions of Epic Games as they feel that the company has simply violated an agreement and is now attempting to weaponize its user base to force Apple to compromise. Either way alongside Samsung working with Xbox, it seems that the company is quickly becoming a leader in mobile gaming on the back of this action.
The issues between Apple and Epic Games appear to be ongoing and it will be interesting to see if the two parties can come to a resolution. In the meantime, it seems that Samsung will cement its position as a mobile gaming platform.