Facebook, Spotify Among The Latest Companies Siding With Fortnite In Its Feud With Apple

Fortnite creator Epic Games might be feuding with Apple, but it’s far from the only big company that has a problem with how the tech giant handles its app store policies. Nicolas Vega of the New York Post reported on Friday that several other tech titans joined the fray on the side of Fortnite, just a few days after the uber-popular video game was pulled off the app store.

Among the firms that sided with Fortnite was social media giant Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg’s social media behemoth took issue with the 30 percent fees on purchases. It was that fee that led to Epic trying to find a way around paying such exorbitant amounts and running afoul of Tim Cook and his iron grip on what applications will be featured on iPhones and iPads.

“We asked Apple to reduce its 30 percent tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19,” Fidji Simo, the social media company’s head of mobile applications said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, they dismissed both our requests and [small businesses] will only be paid 70 percent of their hard-earned revenue.”

Simo noted that customers who use Facebook Pay are allowed to keep all the money they are able to generate through online events.

Friday was a day of ganging up on one of the world’s leaders in mobile application revenue. Earlier in the day, the developers that own dating application Tinder, Match Group, and the streaming music colossus Spotify both took Fortnite‘s side in this particular feud.

Tinder is one of the iPhone’s most popular services, and it has found a way around a rather stringent set of rules by actively encouraging customers to use its website.

“We fully support Epic Games’ efforts today to show how Apple uses its dominant position and unfair policies to hurt consumers, app developers, and entrepreneurs,” a Match spokesperson told The Post.

“Regulators across the globe have expressed similar concerns and are examining arbitrary practices.”

Spotify issued a similar statement saying it applauded the Fortnite developers and the stand they were trying to make.

The firm recently rolled out a direct payment system that allows Fortnite players to make payments directly to the company rather than having to go through a middle man.

When Fortnite was pulled from both mobile stores, its devs filed a pair of lawsuits. Neither suit is looking for compensation but rather injective relief that would see a return to the platforms.