Epic Games offers Fortnite Mega Drop 20% discounts on iOS and Android

Epic Games has announced Fortnite Mega Drop to offer new discounts on in-app purchases across all devices. Now players can get save up to 20% on V-Buck and real money for every purchase on Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, PC, Mac, and mobile with new payment methods for iOS and Android.

The announcement explains:

This isn’t a sale.. these are new discount prices available anytime! We’re excited to pass along these savings to you and will continue to look for additional ways to bring value to all Fortnite players.

New Epic Direct Payment on iOS and Android

The latest version of the Fortnite app on all iOS and Android devices will offer players ‘Epic direct payment’ method which will allow them to opt for a cheaper purchasing cost via direct payment, which will completely eliminate Apple and Google from the cut.

When making an in-app purchase, the new payment method will be displayed as a payment option with a lower price for every 1000 V-Bucks or items of the same value.

1. $9.99 via App Store and Google Play
2. $7.99 via Epic direct payment

“Currently, when using Apple and Google payment options, Apple and Google collect a 30% fee, and the up to 20% price drop does not apply. If Apple or Google lower their fees on payments in the future, Epic will pass along the savings to you.”

The new direct payment method not only benefits the players but also the creators. Although buying v-bucks for less, it does not affect Support A-creator rates and creators receive $1 for every 2000 V-Bucks spent.

“So when players spend the same amount of money in Fortnite as they have previously, creators can now earn even more when those additional V-Bucks are spent!”

To celebrate its newly established control over in-app purchases, Epic is has gifted the ‘Shooting Starstaff Pickaxe’ for free to all active players. Players can check for supporting currencies for payments here.

Although this discount is wonderful news for mobile players, it is more of a challenge to the App Store and Google Play policies of the two tech giants, Apple and Google.

This is a major decision by a developer to openly call out Apple and Google for their 30% share in revenues. Especially at a time when the EU has begun investigating Apple’s App Store and both companies are facing an Anti-trust investigation in the U.S. over anti-competitive behavior.