Earlier today Epic Games announced it is launching further legal proceedings against Apple, this time in Australia.
The game developer behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine is filing claims in the Federal Court of Australia against tech giant Apple, very much in the same vein as their US legal disputes launched earlier this year.
Here is everything we know so far about the new challenges, and a recap of what’s been going on.
What is #FreeFortnite about?
It depends exactly who you ask, and in what context you ask, but at its core #FreeFortnite is the public name for the legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games, which launched alongside a parody of the 1984 Apple Trailer.
The hashtag was introduced back in August after Fortnite was banned from Apple’s App Store for introducing an update that would allow players to purchase V-Bucks on iOS devices directly from Epic, and bypassing Apple’s cut of the revenue.
Apple claims the game broke their terms of service and should be kicked off, Epic countered by claiming that Apple runs an effective monopoly and shouldn’t be allowed to continue with its practices.
If you read deeper into the court proceedings you can also see this goes beyond Fortnite with the mention of an Epic run app store.
Epic Games would like to start offering a rival app store on iOS and Android smartphones, much like the Epic Games Store on pc, but so far are facing troubles breaking into these walled garden platforms.
The winner of the Apple v Epic cases could have far-reaching consequences across all of mobile gaming, the biggest gaming market sector, so there is a lot to play for.
Read More: #FreeFortnite: Epic Games v Apple Trial Has A Date For 2021
#FreeFortnite Australia
The new proceedings launching in Australia today follow the same patterns as the ongoing US.
In a public post put out on Epic’s official website Tim Sweeny, Epic Founder and CEO said, “This is much bigger than Epic versus Apple.”
“It goes to the heart of whether consumers and creators can do business together directly on mobile platforms or are forced to use monopoly channels against wishes and interests.”
Their allegations say that Apple is crippling ecosystems with their practices, which must be halted and altered to allow for fair competition.
At the time of writing Apple are yet to issue a response.
We’ll let you know if we learn more.