Police cars are missing from 'Fortnite'

Epic Games seems to be responding to current events. Gamers are reporting that Epic has taken on police cars from Fortnite. The removal is believed to be a response to the Black Lives Matter protests against police violence. A Wall Street Journal source says the developer isn't making a "political statement." Instead, it's trying to be "sensitive about the issues" players are dealing with. Epic hasn't commented yet about the matter.

While some major game industry players have endorsed the Black Lives Matter cause, Epic seems to take a softer stance. As Engadget points out, it acknowledges the outrage, but it isn't explicitly advocating a cause. Epic has been previously quoted as saying it will not ban players for political speech. This milder approach isn't surprising as these companies are hesitant to take up a cause without alienating buyers with opposing views.

Source: Engadget

Epic Games Store to come to iOS, Android

Epic Games is looking to capture the mobile gaming audience with plans to bring the Epic Games Store to Android and iOS. In an interview during GameSpot's Play For All, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney talked about this plan to bring its app store to mobile.

"We'd like to bring the [Epic Games] Store to iOS in the future, and we will bring it to Android," Sweeney said. "We think it's a good way to help the industry [move] forward and it's another way where Epic as a game developer had built up this audience around Fortnite and learned how to operate a distribution platform on PC and Android. Now, as we've done with many things from the Unreal Engine to the Epic Online services, we open it up to all other developers to use with their games and are trying to serve the industry and provide a really interesting alternative to the ecosystem."

Click to read more ...

Epic Games begrudgingly brings 'Fortnite' to Google Play Store

Image courtesy of Epic Games

Epic Games finally caved and brought Fortnite to the Google Play Store, but they aren't exactly pleased with it. When the game launched on mobile in 2018, the developer notably sidestepped the Play Store and asked users to download the title right from its website to avoid Google's substantial 30% revenue cut from in-app purchases of Play Store downloads. And with Fortnite being a popular free-to-play game when it launched, it would have lost significant income from the game. 

After 18 months of the company's harsh rhetoric when it comes to Google's gatekeeping, Fortnite is on the Play Store, while also still available through fortnite.com. 

Click to read more ...

Epic Games reportedly paid US$10 million for 'Control' exclusive

Ever wondered how much it cost Epic Games to have exclusive access to Control on the PC? A new report has the numbers. And if it's accurate, the total amounts to €9.49 million (approx. US$10 million or around CA$13 million). The numbers were discovered in a recent financial report by Control's parent company 505 Games, Digital Bros. The story is in full Italian, but ComicBook claims it looks legitimate. 

Either way, it shows that Epic Games is willing to pay a handsome amount for exclusivity for its PC storefront. What isn't known is if it'll eventually show up on other stores. The possibility that this is sort of a timed-exclusivity agreement is there with the game may be showing up on other storefronts after the deal is over. The game is also available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.