The rising cost of gaming

Fortnite is coming back to iOS in the U.S. Read about the lawsuit that made this a possibility. Plus Xbox raises their prices and games media suffers some serious losses. All this and more. Let’s go!

Fortnite returns to Apple devices

The world just got a little better for iPhone developers, thanks to Fortnite owner Epic Games. 

In 2020, Epic filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The suit argued that Apple acted as a monopoly by taking a 30% cut on all in-app purchases, while banning competition from outside payment methods. Apple retaliated by suspending Epic’s developer account, and removing Fortnite from their app store. The game has not been available on iOS since then. 

The litigation continued for years, with Apple getting its way. However, last week Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said that Apple willfully violated a previous court order. From the latest decision:

For the reasons set forth herein, the Court finds Apple in willful violation of this Court’s 2021 Injunction which issued to restrain and prohibit Apple’s anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing. Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated.

This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order…Time is of the essence. The Court will not tolerate further delays. As previously ordered, Apple will not impede competition. The Court enjoins Apple from implementing its new anticompetitive acts to avoid compliance with the Injunction. Effective immediately Apple will no longer impede developers’ ability to communicate with users nor will they levy or impose a new commission on off-app purchases.

After the verdict, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced on Twitter that Fortnite would return to iOS in the U.S., and that the company would offer their own payment option that takes significantly less fees.

In an interview, Sweeney elaborated on the decision:

What this does is it forces Apple to compete with other payment services, rather than blocking them. This is what we wanted all along. We’ve always acknowledged Apple’s right to operate their own store; their right to operate their own payment service. We’ve just always wanted a level playing field in which developers can compete with Apple to offer their own products, and then consumers are free to choose the best, and let the best product win.

Xbox raises prices

A few weeks after Sony raised the price of the PlayStation 5 in some regions including Europe and Australia, Microsoft decided to one-up their competitor by raising prices in the United States. 

Microsoft announced last week that they would raise prices significantly on their five year old consoles immediately. Tariffs are partially to blame, but Ars Technica points out chips are not improving like they have in the past. From Game Informer, some of the updated prices are:  

• Xbox Series S 512 GB - $379.99 (originally $299.99)
• Xbox Series S 1TB - $429.99 (originally 349.99)
• Xbox Series X Digital - $549.99 (originally 449.99)
• Xbox Series X - $599.99 (originally $499.99)
• Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition - $729.99 (originally $599.99)

Consoles are not the only price increases for Xbox. Microsoft plans to follow Nintendo’s lead and raise prices of “some” holiday games to $80. No details on which ones yet, but a likely guess would be Activision’s Call of Duty franchise.

Join The Games Letter

Subscribe to our email newsletter and receive the latest gaming news in your inbox every Monday morning! It also helps support our website. We will never spam you. Join today!

Subscribe today!

A bad week for gaming media

For people who enjoy reading, watching or listening to gaming news, last week was beyond disappointing. 

Giant Bomb, one of the premiere gaming video and podcast websites in the past decade, was blown up by new owners Fandom. Details are still somewhat scarce, but on the 888th episode of the Giant Bombcast, the hosts made fun of seemingly new guidelines passed down to the site to make their content PG-13 rated. Within hours, the podcast was pulled, and a day later, three of the four participants posted they were no longer with the site. 

Fandom says the Giant Bomb brand is in the process of undergoing a “strategic reset and realignment.” However, fans of the site appear to be leaving as quickly as the personalities who worked there. The site has dealt with notable departures in the past, including co-founder Jeff Gerstmann in 2022, who now hosts his own podcast. But this time feels different. Time will tell. 

Giant Bomb was not the only gaming website to be gutted, as Vox sold their gaming website Polygon to Valnet. Immediately after the sale, all employees who were members of Vox’s union were laid off.

For those unfamiliar with Valnet, The Wrap has a great article about how the company was created by a former online porn mogul who runs the company like a digital media sweatshop. Valnet is currently facing a lawsuit over exploitative working conditions, while threatening “legal consequences” for YouTubers who cite The Wrap’s article. 

Valnet says it will “do what’s right for Polygon,” but others think the site is being sacrificed at the altar of slop.

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

🚓 RockStar Games says Grand Theft Auto VI is delayed until May 26, 2026. 

🇫🇷 French President Emmanuel Macron praised the game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for showing “French audacity.”

💸 Kickstarter added a new “Tariff Manager Tool” to cover additional charges of fully-funded campaigns. 

🎶 Musician Soccer Mommy loves Stardew Valley, and provided her thoughts on the independent game. 

⚖️ Nintendo is suing the accessory manufacturer who leaked mockups of the Switch 2 before it was announced. 

🌏 Borderlands 4 revealed more details including gameplay and has a new release date of September 12. 

🙍🏽 Electronic Arts cut between 300-400 jobs and cancelled a new unannounced Titanfall game. 

🇷🇺 The Russian government seized the assets of World of Tanks developer Lesta Studio over their support for Ukraine. 

🎮 Gaming accessory maker 8BitDo halted product shipments to the US due to tariffs. 

🧟‍♂️ Evil Dead: The Game is being delisted from digital storefronts, but publisher Saber Interactive says they plan to keep the servers online.

💵 As most game studios are raising prices, one plans to lower theirs, saying “we felt too many things in the world were getting too expensive, too fast.”

🎩 A new Monopoly Go! in-game event adds Star Wars characters.

😢 Sony removed Sackboy from their PlayStation intro, and fans are worried this could be the end for the Little Big Planet franchise. 

🧩 A new New York Times feature will let fans play Wordle against various celebrities, including Celebs Laufey, Lola Tung, Chris Perfetti, Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan.

📈 Round numbers: Elden Ring sold over 30 million copies while The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered was played by 4 million.

New Releases this week: 

Check out our article on 11 New Games to Play in May.

5/6: Captain Blood (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
5/8: The Midnight Walk (PlayStation and PC)
5/8: Revenge of the Savage Planet (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
5/8: Spirit of the North 2 (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
5/8: Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall (PC)

Thanks for reading. If you enjoy our newsletter, tell a friend to subscribe!