Epic Games Sues Apple for Preventing Fortnight from Using Bitcoin as Alternative Payment Option

Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite has filed a lawsuit against Apple after the company removed the popular video game from their app stores after it implemented its own in-app payments.

According to the lawsuit, Apple’s anti-competitive conduct eliminates alternative payment options like Bitcoin to be used in the game.

Epic Games wants to use alternative payment processing tools beyond Apple’s In-App purchase to spur innovation and provide its users with lower prices and better service. The document reads:

“These innovations could include, for example, alternative means to pay for in-app purchases of in-app content—which Apple does not offer—such as billing to the customer’s cellular carrier, using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, offering rewards points to customers, or providing more than one in-app payment processor.”

Besides the antitrust lawsuit that sought to establish Apple’s App store as a monopoly, Epic also aired a protest video on YouTube calling on gaming fans to support its fight against Apple.

Apple confirmed in a statement to The Verge that they removed the game from their app because it violated the App store guidelines regarding in-app payments. The company also said that they would work with Epic to “resolve these violations” but has no intention to create a “special arrangement” for the company.

Epic also implemented its own payment system in the Android version of Fortnite, leading Google to remove the game from the Play Store as well. However, Android users can still download the game from Epic’s own app launcher as the “open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores.”

As for the iOS users, those who have already downloaded Fortnite can still access the game, but new downloads are disabled. Users meanwhile can still use Epic’s in-app payment system.