Basics of the Debate
The controversy surrounding the possible deletion of Fortnite from various platforms is mostly associated with Elon Musk. The public debate revolves around the idea that Musk may be responsible for the removal of Fortnite on pc, Xbox, and Playstation.
Numerous sources have discussed Musk’s potential involvement with the removal of Fortnite over the years, though most speculations are unsubstantiated and unverified.
Musk is the founder and CEO of Tesla; he is also the founder of SpaceX. At one point, he had the title of world’s second-richest person before being overtaken by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
In 2019, Musk had a spat with Epic games, the makers of Fortnite. This rift was over the fact that Epic games was attempting to circumvent the Apple App Store’s payment system and use its own payment system on Fortnite for the Apple platform.
This caused the removal of Fortnite from the Apple App Store, which further escalated to the removal of Fortnite from the several platforms like PC, Xbox, and Playstation.
Elon Musk’s Role In The Situation
In a way, it can be said that Elon Musk had a role in why Fortnite was removed from the platforms. This can be seen in the light of his past behavior and musings.
In 2019, Musk became increasingly vocal on how developers were abusing Apple’s monopoly on its app store. His sentiment was along the lines that Apple was exploiting developers by imposing its own payments system.
It is speculated that Musk may have influenced the Fortnite developers to challenge Apple’s monopoly and in turn, paying the price for it.
This would be in line with Musk’s behavior of calling out tech companies for exploiting people through monopolistic practices. … much of the speculation about why Fortnite was removed from the various platforms does not have corroborative evidence to back it up.
Implications of removal from various platforms
With the removal of Fortnite from the various platforms, it opens a lot of potential legal issues in the near future. Epic Games has already sued Apple in 2020 and filed a preliminary injunction, while Apple has retaliated by banning the developer accounts of some Epic Games employees.
The estimated damages Epic is expecting to be awarded by the court runs into the billions of dollars.
Similarly, the removal of Fortnite from the Playstation platform has had an effect on the game’s sales. It is estimated that the removal has had an effect of over 20% in the game’s revenue.
Opinions from experts
Opinions from legal and gaming experts regarding the removal of Fortnite from the various platforms are mixed. While the general consensus is that Epic games was wrong for trying to circumvent the Apple payment system, there is disagreement on whether the removal was proper or not.
Some experts are of the opinion that the removal of Fortnite from the platforms was justified and not related to Elon Musk in any way. These experts have pointed out that Apple had notified Epic Games of likely action before the removal of the game from the various platforms.
This notification gave Epic a chance to comply with Apple’s payment system, but they chose to disregard it.
On the other hand, other experts feel the removal was unjustified. These experts have cited the monopolization of the App Store by Apple and the lack of viable alternatives as the main impetus for their opinion.
Societal view on the matter
The reaction from the public is mostly negative. This is due to the fact that Fortnite players have been affected the most by the removal of the game from the platforms.
The players are mostly angry at both Apple and the Fortnite developers for not sorting out the conflict before it spilled over to the various platforms.
Many people have accused Musk of being involved in the removal of Fortnite, though there is no substantial evidence to prove that such is the case.
The underlying motives behind the removal
The debate about why Fortnite was removed from the platforms revolves around Apple, Epic Games, and Musk. While each party is responsible in their own way, it is not certain who was responsible for the removal.
The motives behind the removal are mainly speculated. Some believe that Apple was trying to protect its App Store payment system while Epic games were trying to circumvent it. Others believe that Musk was trying to make a point about Apple’s monopolistic practices.
No matter who was the cause of the removal, it is clear that the public has been spending the most in the entire scenario.
Musk’s take on the subject
Musk has largely been silent on the subject of Fortnite, and most people speculate that he is not responsible for the game’s removal.
That being said, he has made some comments in the past that suggests his thoughts on the matter.
In particular, he has raised some questions regarding how the App Store treats developers. He has also commented on how the removal of Fortnite might be related to the fight against Apple’s App Store.
The exact details of the issue between Apple and Epic games are still unknown, and it is hard to determine who is responsible for the removal of Fortnite.
Alternative platforms and stores
The removal of Fortnite from various platforms has brought attention to the need for an alternative platform or store. For example, Microsoft has made its Xbox store available for developers, allowing them to make their games accessible without approval from a third party.
Epic Games has also released its own Epic Store, allowing developers to bypass the App Store and the Playstation store in order to make their games available to players.
However, the Epic Store has come under much scrutiny due to its restrictive policies and the lack of payment options. Some developers have refused to include their games on the Epic store due to these issues.
The issue ofFortnite’s removal may become less of an issue when more alternative stores become widely available.
Future of Fortnite
The future of Fortnite is unclear at the moment, as the legal issues between Epic Games and Apple are still ongoing.
In the meantime, some Fortnite players have looked to other games to fill in the gap. For example, some players have migrated to Apex Legends, another battle royale game.
It is also likely that Epic Games will release Fortnite on the Epic Store as soon as the legal issues are resolved.
Finally, there has been much discussion about Fortnite returning to the other platforms such as the Apple App Store, Playstation, and Xbox.
However, the prospects for an immediate return are low due to the ongoing legal issues, and the game may remain off these platforms for some time.
