One of the most substantial and impactful gaming industry legal battles has begun. As two billion dollar companies face off, we are witness to both complex legal challenges as well as mindboggling bizzare mico-battles involving porn games.
In 2020, Epic began the pursuit of a lawsuit against it’s now foe, Apple. Epic, the creator of Fortnite, asserted that Apple’s 30% cut amounted to extortion. Well, not in those exact words, but my dramatic take probably isn’t far from the mood. In essence, Epic accused Apple of unfair business practices in concern with its popular App Store.
On May 3rd, a court case began to determine which billion dollar company was right, somewhat right, kinda right, or mostly wrong. If you know how billion dollar corporate legal challenges go, then you get my point. Its rarely a matter of black and white as high-paid attornies tend to muddy enough waters that ultimately, some negotiation arises.
The court case has massive repercussions on the line. We are talking gaming distribution precedents. And maybe, what is a porn game? Yeah, we are getting there, trust me.
The Bizzare Porn Game Battle Between Apple and Epic
The case is just over a week old, and already, its been a ludicrous, comical spectacle.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, a man who’s pocked billions in cash from the gamer industry, was asked to point out a Playstation while under oath. Yes, in the same way a victim points out the person who they claim kicked their dog, Sweeney raised his hand to point out a gaming system.
One of the biggest points of contention is, and will continue to be, Epic’s “free game” play. Nothing is free, as we all know. With Epic, they were able to revive their dying game store by funneling “free” users into the store through “free games,” such as Fortnite. Smart business, of course, but likely a main source of evidence for Apple.
Case and point, Fortnite made $9 billion in 2018 and 2019. That’s stunning, for a “free game,” of course.
But the biggest absurdity came during exchanges where Apple wanted Epic to admit to peddling porn games.
Such an assertion seems logical and reasonable. Cut and dry. Straightforward.
But as keeping with the current opening trend, its a question that’s anything but simple.
Apple contends that Epic has no quality controls to speak of and that the porn games are cruising in like passenger planes descending on Los Angeles International Airport.
When Apple’s attorney took to Sweeney over the matter, it went down like this:
“On the record, you’ve discussed that there are certain kinds of content that the Epic Games Store will not bring to the store,” Apple’s lawyer said. “You said that Epic Games will not be supportive of games that are offensive or sexualized.”
“A little further down, you say no porn and no hate,” Apple’s lawyer continued. “Do you see that?”
She then put itch.io, an independent game store that Epic now works with in its store, on the screen. The attorney then read through all the alledged adult oriented games displaying to the courtroom.
“You may not be aware, then, that the description of that game includes a list of fetishes, which include many words that are not appropriate for us to speak in federal courts,” said the lawyer. “There are many games on itch.io. I won’t even read the names out loud, but they are both offensive and sexualized. You’re not aware of that?”
There’s an important distinction we must make here. itch.io isn’t actually ON Epic’s game servers, it’s merely an app found in the store. Wow, that even confused me.
The attorney alledges that the itch.io app was held to no review standards and therefore, porn game freak flags fly.
“So Epic Games, your store, is on the hook for whatever process itch.io put in place to review these games that are so offensive we cannot speak about them here, correct?” she said.
“So can you or can you not access those apps through your app store?” asked the lawyer.
Epic Games Store VP Steve Allison disagreed, dodged, ignored, and what have you, this line of questioning.
“I just want to know, sir, if you support offensive and sexual content,” Apple’s attorney said.
“I don’t support sexualized content of any sort,” Allison replied.
But things got even more bizzare as actual examples arose. In order to prove Apple’s point, they brought forth Agent Peely, a fictional banana that sometimes carries an Axe in Fortnite. When displaying Peely to the courtroom, Apple’s attorney said, “it was better to go with the suit instead of the naked banana, because we are in federal court right now”.
Like, wtf, yall?
So Agent Peely without clothes is offensive? Is this the big porn game grab bag?
Epic marketing director Matthew Weissinger said in response, “It’s just a banana, ma’am.”
In the midst of legal chaos and quandaries and irony, one thing is certain, the Apple vs. Epic court battle is sure to continue to be an adventure and spectacle for us all.