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Epic Games attacked Apple and Google in a very public way last week to protest what it believes are monopoly app store policies. But Epic was prepared for the fight in part because he knows how to put on a show, having already pulled off massive in-game events like the appearance of a giant rolling cube and a volcanic eruption. The studio has applied tactics it has perfected to exaggerate these events in its disputes with two of the biggest tech companies.
If you haven’t experienced any of the Fortnite events, they have enormous significance. Last summer, a towering robot and a giant kaiju monster fought in a showdown between the islands. In June, a mysterious device teleported players between realities and ultimately turned the ever-looming storm into a massive wall of water. The most famous event sucked the entire gaming world into a black hole for nearly two days. And millions of people listening: the first Travis Scott Fortnite The concert in April had more than 12 million attendees, according to Epic.
While the events were all exciting, they weren’t always easy to watch. For some people Fortnite early events, like a rocket launch in June 2018, other players might kill you while you were trying to watch the show. But for some time now, Epic has turned on a special mode just for events, advising players to join early, and disabling filming while the show is unfolding. And the new Violent-Free Party Royale mode gave Epic the opportunity to try out events on a different scale, like sold-out concerts, show views. We the peopleand screenings of Christopher Nolan films.
Epic typically puts a lot of effort into trending events by placing notices in-game and on social media to let players know something is coming. And when the events happen, they start at exactly the same time for each of the Fortnite millions of players on each platform Fortnite works on (which includes PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, and – for now – iOS and Android).
That time spent honing their marketing for in-game events led it all to the past week. Epic has used everything it knows to get millions of people to show up at its events to be successful Fortnite the biggest event to date – a showdown with Apple and Google.
It all started when Epic posted a blog post Thursday morning announcing a permanent 20% price drop on V-Bucks, Fortnite in-game virtual currency immediately available on all platforms. For mobile gamers, however, there was a slight difference. Epic let you buy V-Bucks at the new cheaper rate through their own payment system, or you can use Apple’s and Google’s payment systems to get them for a higher price. This direct payment system violated App Store policies on both mobile platforms.
On the afternoon of August 13, Apple banned Fortnite. Bloomberg Mark Gurman tweeted on this at 2:53 p.m. ET. Fair a minute later, Epic announced a new “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” short film that clearly resembled the parody of Apple’s famous “1984” commercial, which he said would air in-game at 4 p.m. ET on Party Royale. Twenty-nine minutes later this, Epic announced it is suing Apple and linked directly to legal documents in a tweet of the principal Fortnite Twitter account, which has over 11 million subscribers.
This precise timing of the video and the trial showed that Epic had been prepared for this precise moment. And the fact that the short was premiering in Party Royale meant that there should be no way for players to be killed while watching it.
Epic made sure players were aware of the short as well. I jumped in Fortnite about 30 minutes before its premiere, and before it even got to the lobby, the game showed me an in-game advertisement for the event. Once in a Party Royale match, I mistakenly went to a part of the island with a concert stage and a giant screen, but luckily the screen flashed a map pointing to the other side of the island. I saw after the fact that Epic tweeted the card, as well.
And of course when I went to where the map was pointing there was another giant screen that counted until the first. (Countdowns, by the way, are table stakes for a Fortnite Event.)
The short film, which was only 48 seconds long, was impressive. Epic regularly directs cinematic shorts for new updates and skins, and the studio has used their directorial skills to disparage Apple’s famous commercial. Iconic epic shots recreated from the ad with characters that would be instantly recognizable Fortnite fans and portrayed the Big Brother-esque character depicting Apple as a literal talking apple.
The short concluded with a hashtag – #FreeFortnite – which Epic then used as the title of a blog explaining Epic’s stance on Apple’s draw. Fortnite. In the article, Epic noted that iOS gamers currently won’t be able to play the game’s next season (which will likely be filled with important updates), and called on gamers to “join the fight against @AppStore on social networks with # FreeFortnite. “
Epic then looped the short film “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” to its Twitter, Twitch and YouTube channels – a trick it also used for the Black Hole event – where it had thousands of simultaneous viewers on the three platforms. But while live streams from the black hole were a way to create a hype, Epic streamed the “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” video to try and rally support for its cause.
While this is a detailed and well-planned campaign against Apple, Epic used many of these tactics a week earlier to promote the addition of cars to drive to. Fortnite. This update was accompanied by an in-game cinematic short, tweets, and a blog post on Epic’s website.
Interestingly, Epic didn’t roll out as much of its playbook against Google, although Google also fired Fortnite from the Play Store and Epic suing in response. There was no cheeky short-term mockery of Google’s old motto “don’t be mean”. Epic did not announce on Twitter that it had sued Google. The studio fact Tweeter about the game being pulled from the Play Store, but this tweet was polite to what Epic said against Apple.
Epic’s quieter response to Google could be because you can still play Fortnite on Android devices by downloading it directly from Epic or from Samsung’s App Store – which Epic suggests on its own website. Apple, for now, appears to be Epic’s main target.
And although the dispute with Apple continues to escalate, Apple has threatened to remove Epic’s access to Apple’s developer tools by August 28, unless the studio changes Fortnite – there hasn’t been a follow-up video or new in-game event yet. But a lot of Fortnite Success is the constant creativity Epic brings to the game, so maybe Epic has more in store to try and put pressure on Apple.
If you’re reading this, Epic, I’ll give you an idea: release a skin for the apple man.
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