Google is joining Apple and also booting Fortnite from the company’s Android app store, Google Play.
The company did so on Thursday after Epic Games added a direct payment option in both the iOS and Android versions of Fortnite, bypassing the need to pay Apple and Google a 30 percent cut on all in-app purchases.
Earlier today, Apple removed the game from the iOS app store, saying the in-app purchase option broke the company’s rules. Now Google is using the same justification in pulling Fortnite from its own app store.
“For game developers who choose to use the Play Store, we have consistent policies that are fair to developers and keep the store safe for users,” Google told PCMag in a statement.
But unlike the iOS ecosystem, users on Android can still download and install Fortnite without Google’s official app store. Interested gamers simply need to head over to the Fortnite website and sideload the game by following a few steps.
Google added: “While Fortnite remains available on Android, we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play."
We’ve reached out to Epic Games for comment. But in the case of Apple, the gaming company decided to respond to the takedown with an antitrust lawsuit. Epic Games is now claiming Cupertino has a monopoly through the iOS app store, which is the sole way iPhone and iPad owners can download apps (unless they jailbreak the device).
“Apple’s removal of Fortnite is yet another example of Apple flexing its enormous power in order to impose unreasonable restraints and unlawfully maintain its 100 percent monopoly over the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market,” Epic Games said in its lawsuit.
The same antitrust argument would be harder to make against Google, which pointed out: "The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores."
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