Earlier today Patently Apple posted a report titled "After Publicly Complaining about Apple's App Store for Months, Epic Games introduces a new Direct Payment System for Gamers." At the end of that report I had noted that time would  tell if Epic Games gamble would pay off without a lawsuit or being dropped by the App Store. Well, Apple acted swiftly by removing the Fortnite game from the App Store.

Apple's instant reaction was countered by Epic Games filing a lawsuit against Apple. The bad blood between the two parties is now a little over-the-top with Epic Games and Spotify hoping to break Apple's App Store. What Apple fan would ever buy from Epic or Spotify again should they succeed?  They've just gained millions of  enemies with their antics.  What are these guys thinking?  

In a statement sent out to the media, Apple stated that that it removed Fortnite because Epic’s changes had the "express intent of violating the App Store guidelines." Apple further added that the App Store helped enable Epic’s success over the last decade and that it offers a "level playing field" for businesses.

Epic filed a lawsuit in a California district court, alleging that Apple’s stronghold on its app store and related customer payments is anti-competitive. Epic said it isn’t seeking money but for Apple’s practices to be stopped. If not for Apple’s "illegal restraints," Epic would provide a competing app store on Apple devices, according to the lawsuit.

Sweeney has also criticized Google, which maintains a similar policy as Apple. He described the two companies as a duopoly in an interview with Bloomberg Television last month.

At the end of the day, if we've learned anything today from this episode, it's that Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has been planning this coordinated attack on Apple for some time.  

For the record, Google's response was equal to Apple's by dropping Fortnite from Google Play, though they're keeping the door open. The Verge provides Google's statement as follows:

"The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores. For game developers who choose to use the Play Store, we have consistent policies that are fair to developers and keep the store safe for users. While Fortnite remains available on Android, we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play."

For more on Google's response, read the full report by The Verge.