Amid the ongoing legal battle between Epic Games and Apple, a Fortnite competitor is receiving some beneficial publicity in the App Store. When you open the App Store today, you’ll see an editorial story promoting PUBG Mobile, a popular competing battle royale.
Notably, the App Store featured story on PUBG Mobile comes on the same day as Apple will terminate the Epic Games developer account associated with Fortnite. The story was first spotted on Twitter by Mike Beasley. The situation is made even more ironic when you remember that PUGB Mobile is actually built with Epic’s Unreal Engine.
Epic revealed last week that Apple had said it would terminate Fortnite’s developer account on August 28. This came after Epic added a direct payment option to Fortnite, which first prompted Apple to remove Fortnite from the App Store.
A judge ruled earlier this week that Apple is not required to allow Fortnite back on the App Store, but that Apple also cannot terminate developer accounts relating to Unreal Engine or other Epic properties. Epic has centered its legal argument around the fact that it has multiple developer accounts, including one specific for Fortnite.
Apple has said that it would be happy to welcome Fortnite back to the App Store if Epic removes the direct payment feature that circumvents Apple’s In-App Purchase system. Epic appears to have no interest in making that concession, even as the legal battle moves forward.
The removal of Fortnite from the App Store and the termination of the associated developer account has wide-ranging implications for Fortnite players — hence why Apple is cleverly promoting PUBG Mobile in the App Store today. Fortnite players on iPhone, iPad, and Mac missed out on yesterday’s gameplay content expansion. As such, Fortnite players on iOS and Mac have also lost support for cross-platform gameplay, which is a key feature of these types of battle royale games.
You can view today’s App Store editorial story promoting PUBG Mobile and download the game right here.
Read more about the Epic Games vs Apple battle:
- Fortnite on iOS and Mac losing cross-platform compatibility over Apple battle
- Fortnite for iOS and Mac is now officially blocked from receiving updates
- Judge temporarily restrains Apple from blocking Unreal Engine, Fortnite ban upheld for now
- Epic says new Fortnite season won’t be released on Mac or iOS due to legal dispute with Apple
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