FreeFortnite

#FreeFortnite is a campaign that started on August 13, 2020. It revolves around the issue that iOS and macOS players are unable to play the current season of Fortnite to this day, due to a debate with Epic Games and Apple.
A tournament, called the #FreeFortnite Cup, was held on August 23, 2020 to raise awareness for the campaign. Players who earned 10 points would be granted the Tart Tycoon outfit for free upon completion.
== Origin ==
When Update v13.40 released, Epic Games released a new direct payment system to their game, which lowered prices for V-Bucks. This broke Apple's terms of service (as they take a cut of all app store purchases) and, therefore, resulted in the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. Following this decision, Epic decided to sue apple for creating a monopoly, as they were the only app store on iOS, which Epic Games considered to be unfair to publishers. Meanwhile, iOS players were stuck with Chapter 2: Season 3 and could not progress their battle passes anymore. They also could no longer play with friends from other platforms that used a newer version of the game. Epic started a campaign in order to Free Fortnite, intending to raise public awareness for their campaign.
Fortnite uploaded a parody of Apple's "Macintosh" commercial, which itself parodies the book title of the same name by George Orwell called Nineteen Eighty-Four.
== Impact ==
Due to the events listed above, all iOS, macOS, and some Android players lost access to the ability to download Fortnite and could not update it. This resulted in them being stuck in Chapter 2: Season 3. However, most Android players are still able to download the game from the The Official Fortnite Website and update it from the Epic Games app, which is installed upon downloading Fortnite from the website.
Epic Games also lost their developer accounts, meaning their other games, such as Battle Breakers, were also removed from the App Store on iOS and Google Play on Android.
=== Differences ===
* The icon and initial loading screen is that of Chapter 2: Season 3.
* Battle Pass, Career, and V-Bucks sections cannot be accessed.
** This means that Level progress cannot be made, and the Battle Pass cannot be purchased. New Legacy cannot be earned. V-Bucks cannot be purchased.
* The lobby uses the background from Chapter 2: Season 1.
* iOS players cannot play with friends who have been updated to Chapter 2: Season 4 or newer.
* Cosmetics added after Chapter 2: Season 4 cannot be used, and appear as default cosmetics if you equip them on other devices and try to use them on IOS.
* The Game is stuck with Pre-Season 4 features and all weapons that were nerfed during or after Chapter 2: Season 4 (such as the combat shotgun) still have their old stats.
* Players will notice that game sizes are smaller (less than 100 people) and queues are longer as less people want to play as the season get older.
* Save the World is not Accessible on Mac.
There are, however, subtle hints to Chapter 2: Season 4, making this Season 3.5.
* The Battle Modes' icons are those of the current season.
== Judge Ruling ==
On September 10th 2021, the judge gave their ruling on the Epic Games and Apple Court Case. Epic ended up losing, with Apple winning 9 out of 10 counts. Epic, however, won the most important count, which was that app developers should allow users to use other payment methods without using the App Store.
Tim Sweeney said that Fortnite will return to the App Store when Epic can allow their in app-payment alongside Apple's in-app payment system.
However, Apple said that Epic will not be allowed back onto the App store until the court case is complete, which could take up to 5 years.
==Fortnite's Return to Mobile and macOS==
Even though Epic Games will likely not get back onto Apple and Google stores soon, Fortnite returned on mobile devices and macOS through several means :
* Several cloud gaming services, including NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna started to propose playing Fortnite starting from 2022, making it playable on all devices again.
* In January 2024, following the application of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), an European Union law that among others forces Apple to allow third-party stores to be loaded onto its devices, Epic Games announced that Fortnite would come back on iOS via the Epic Games Store on European devices.
Category:Real World