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'FreeFortnite' Tournament Taunts Apple

The Fortnite logo is seen at the Paris Games Week (PGW), a trade fair for video games in Paris, France, October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
The Fortnite logo is seen at the Paris Games Week (PGW), a trade fair for video games in Paris, France, October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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'FreeFortnite' Tournament Taunts Apple

The Fortnite logo is seen at the Paris Games Week (PGW), a trade fair for video games in Paris, France, October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
The Fortnite logo is seen at the Paris Games Week (PGW), a trade fair for video games in Paris, France, October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

The maker of video game sensation Fortnite is taunting Apple amid its legal battle with the tech titan, launching a tournament on Sunday to highlight its war on the App Store fee policy.

"All of your friends. Awesome prizes. And one bad apple," Epic Games said in a post on its website.

The "FreeFortnite Cup" is free to enter and prizes include a virtual "Tart Tycoon" outfit featuring an apple head, sunglasses and condescending frown.

Players with top scores in each of the game's 20,000 regions around the world will be sent caps with a "Free Fortnite" logo playing off of Apple's iconic symbol, Epic said.

Epic also encouraged players to express their displeasure with Apple on Twitter using the #FreeFortnite hashtag.

Fortnite players on Apple mobile devices won't be able to access a new season of the game, set to launch August 27 with a software update, because the app has been removed from Apple's App Store.

"These are the final days of the entire Fortnite community's ability to play together," Epic said.

The company filed a lawsuit against Apple last week after the iPhone maker took Fortnite off its App Store for releasing an update that dodges revenue sharing.

The latest version contains a payment system that lets player transactions bypass the App Store, preventing Cupertino-based Apple from collecting its typical 30 percent cut.

Epic has asked a judge to make Apple put Fortnite back in the App Store until the matter is resolved in court, AFP reported.

Apple on Friday voiced its opposition to such an emergency order, arguing in a legal filing that Epic's situation is a "self-inflicted wound" that could be remedied by updating Fortnite to stop bypassing the App Store payment system.

"Epic made a deliberate choice to cheat Apple," it said.

"Having decided that it would rather enjoy the benefits of the App Store without paying for them, Epic has breached its contracts with Apple, using its own customers and Apple's users as leverage."

Epic has executed a carefully orchestrated campaign, complete with a parody video, merchandise, hashtag, belligerent tweets and legal action, Apple contended.

Apple does not allow users of its popular devices to download apps from anywhere but its App Store, prompting critics to argue it wields monopoly power.

The tech giant has also notified Epic it will cut off access to tools needed to tailor software for devices powered by its operating systems, according to a request by the game maker for a temporary restraining order.

Without those tools, Epic will not be able to create iPhone, iPad or Mac computer versions of its widely used Unreal Engine for powering rich graphics.

Gamers can still play Fortnite on Apple mobile devices, but will not receive updates because those need to come through the App Store.

Epic reminded players they can access the latest versions of Fortnite on personal computers, video game consoles and Android-powered mobile devices.

It is giving away 1,200 pieces of gaming hardware as prizes in the Sunday tournament.

"Just because you can't play on iOS doesn't mean there aren't other awesome places to play Fortnite," Epic told fans.

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Technology

US Rests Case in Landmark Meta Antitrust Trial

In a landmark anti-trust trial in Washington, Facebook-owner Meta could be forced to divest itself of Instagram and Whatsapp. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
In a landmark anti-trust trial in Washington, Facebook-owner Meta could be forced to divest itself of Instagram and Whatsapp. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
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US Rests Case in Landmark Meta Antitrust Trial

In a landmark anti-trust trial in Washington, Facebook-owner Meta could be forced to divest itself of Instagram and Whatsapp. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
In a landmark anti-trust trial in Washington, Facebook-owner Meta could be forced to divest itself of Instagram and Whatsapp. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

The US government rested its case against Facebook-owner Meta on Thursday, as it tries to persuade a US judge that the tech giant bought Instagram and WhatsApp to neutralize them as rivals.

The landmark case, brought by the Federal Trade Commission, could see Meta forced to divest itself of the two apps, which have grown into global powerhouses since their buyouts.

The trial, held in a federal court in Washington, is presided over by Judge James Boasberg who will decide the outcome of the case.

At the heart of the antitrust battle is the question of whether the crucial ingredient that undergirds Meta's success is its ability to make connections between friends or family across its apps.

The argument -- that real-life connections are the glue that make Facebook's apps successful -- is the foundation of the government's argument that describes a world where only youth-targeted Snap is a credible, if very distant, rival.

Meta counters that its rivals are YouTube and TikTok and that it competes furiously in a much wider and ever-changing market to capture the eyeballs and attention of the world's users.

The trial, expected to continue for several more weeks, has seen top Meta executives take the stand, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

Much of the testimony has been devoted to government lawyers building their case that Facebook and its family of apps constitute a market that is distinct from TikTok and YouTube, apps where personal connections have very little impact on usage.

The US government argues that Meta's hold on friends and family offers a unique ability to build out its products and rake in billions of dollars in profits every quarter.

As a sign of the monopoly, the government also points to widespread reports of customer dissatisfaction with Meta products but continued success and growth of its apps.

Meta executives argue that its apps are facing major headwinds and that calling them a monopoly is wrong.

On the government's last day of calling its witnesses, the head of Facebook, Tom Alison told the court the company is in an "upheaval," facing generational changes in online habits as young users prefer TikTok-style short video content over sharing pictures and text.

"The reality is that Facebook was built 21 years ago and Gen Z users have different expectations," Alison said.

But the government believes that Facebook's hold on friends and family shields its business from swings in the market and that it bought Instagram and WhatsApp, in 2012 and 2014 respectively, to remove potential threats to its dominance.

'Failed'

Testimony in the past weeks has included revelations by Kevin Systrom, the founder of Instagram, that he felt that Zuckerberg had undermined the success of his photo-sharing app in favor of Facebook once he was bought out.

This seemed to back the government's argument that the purchase of Instagram was originally intended as an effort to remove a potential rival, before it became successful in its own right.

Meta on Thursday began calling its own list of witnesses, beginning with executives from Snap.

"After five weeks of trial, it is clear that the FTC has failed to meet the legal standard required under antitrust law," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

"Regardless, we will present our case to show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram competes with TikTok (and YouTube and X and many other apps)," Meta added.