NEW YORK: Apple and Google dropped the popular game Fortnite from their app stores after the game’s developer introduced a direct payment plan that bypasses their platforms.
Apple and Google both take a 30% cut from in-app revenue purchases in games, which has long been a sore spot with developers.
Fortnite is free, but users can pay for in game accoutrements like weapons and skins. Its developer, Epic Games, said in a blog post Thursday that it was introducing Epic Direct payments, a direct payment plan for Apple’s iOS and Google Play. Epic said the system is the same payment system it already uses to process payments on PC and Mac computers and Android phones.
Apple and Google said the service violates their guidelines.
“Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services,” Apple said in statement.
Google said Fortnite will remain available on Android, just not through its app store. Android users can download the app from other app stores, although that’s generally not an option for iPhone users.
Epic Games did not immediately return a request for comment. Epic’s Fortnite Twitter account said the company would debut a new short film called “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite,” a seeming parody of Apple’s iconic “1984” commercial that introduced the Macintosh computer. It has also filed a complaint against Apple in the US District Court in Northern California for dropping Fortnite.
Apple, Google drop Fortnite from app stores over payments
https://arab.news/znkqh
Apple, Google drop Fortnite from app stores over payments
- Google said Fortnite will remain available on Android, just not through its app store
- Apple and Google both take a 30% cut from in-app revenue purchases in games
Saudi e-commerce via mada cards hits record $8.18bn in October
RIYADH: E-commerce spending in Saudi Arabia via mada cards surged to a record monthly high in October, exceeding SR30.7 billion ($8.18 billion).
The increase marked a 68 percent year-on-year rise, or about SR12.4 billion more than the SR18.3 billion recorded in October 2024, according to the statistical bulletin of the Saudi Central Bank, known as SAMA.
E-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2025 reached SR88.3 billion, up 15.2 percent from the previous quarter, an increase of around SR11.6 billion from SR76.6 billion in the second quarter.
On a month-on-month basis, e-commerce sales in October rose 6 percent, gaining roughly SR1.6 billion from September’s total of SR29.1 billion.
From January to October, mada data showed e-commerce sales climbed 47.3 percent, rising by about SR9.9 billion from the SR20.9 billion recorded in January.
The series tracks e-commerce transactions conducted via mada cards, including online purchases, in-app payments and e-wallet checkouts, while excluding transactions processed through credit card networks.
