Fortnite‘s abrupt battle with Apple and Google over payment methods erupted last week, complete with a parody of a very famous Apple commercial and a lot of legal paperwork.
It’s a fascinating dispute between companies that has sparked a legal battle, one that will have a huge impact on the future of the gaming industry and the tech world at large. But for gamers who just want to get those Victory Royales on their various consoles, the conflict is largely an inconvenient turf war that has some impact on item prices and how easy it is to play on mobile devices.
Fortnite is trying to make the most of it, however, by introducing an anti-Apple tournament in the battle royale game. Called the “Free Fortnite Cup,” the competition is slated for August 23. As Fortnite‘s blog explained it, the event is the last chance for the Fortnite community to participate in the same event together, before Apple iOS gamers are left behind by the game’s ban from the app store.
These are the final days of the entire Fortnite community’s ability to play together. Apple has blocked Fortnite from the App Store, preventing players from updating to new versions. Players on iOS devices will be left behind on Chapter 2 – Season 3 while everyone else jumps into the Chapter 2 – Season 4 launch on August 27.
Celebrate the quest for one more Victory Royale with friends across all platforms in the #FreeFortnite Cup this Sunday, August 23. Drop in for an opportunity to win more prizes than ever before including the new Tart Tycoon Outfit, gaming hardware, and exclusive apparel.
The “Tart Tycoon” is a very cheeky swipe at Apple, of course, tying in narratively with the commercial the company put out last week that portrayed the $2 trillion tech giant as the bad guy in this story of corporate infighting. Epic is encouraging fans to use the #FreeFortnite hashtag and directly linked Apple’s App Store account on Twitter. The game maker is directly telling its players to tell Apple to back down, mobilizing its considerable fanbase to their corporate clash. There is even some anti-Apple merch, like this hat that vaguely looks like a retro Apple logo but is actually a Fortnite llama.
Other prizes include other hardware on which to play Fortnite, which at this point is basically any tablet, computer or video game console that isn’t made by Apple. It’s another chapter in what’s becoming a very public fight between massive corporations, and Epic’s side of the tale is definitely more colorful.