Hot on the heels of Apple banning Fortnite from the App Store, Epic Games has announced that it’ll premiere a new short film within the game called Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite, in an obvious parody of Apple’s iconic 1984 commercial that introduced the original Macintosh computer.
The original advertisement, directed by Ridley Scott, portrayed Apple (and the Macintosh) as a rebellious upstart, willing to challenge the status quo with the tagline “you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984,” — referencing the classic dystopian novel by George Orwell where the world is ruled by totalitarian super-states and freedom of thought is forbidden. Presumably, Epic’s new short will reverse that position and portray Apple — and its App Store policies — as the oppressive regime in need of a shock to its system.
Apple and Epic are currently clashing over Apple’s governance of its App Store — specifically, the 30 percent fee that Apple charges for transactions within apps and games offered on iOS and iPad devices. Earlier today, Epic sought to circumvent that system by offering a direct payment option in Fortnite through a backend update (which was not approved by Apple). In response, Apple banned Fortnite from the App Store, claiming Epic’s update violates its policies.
Epic’s short is set to debut today at 4PM ET within the Party Royale mode in Fortnite.
