< < Biden for PresidentIf you’re running Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and want to make a last-minute push for the youth vote, what do you do? Set up a Fortnite island, apparently. Mashable reports (via Kotaku) that the Biden-Harris campaign has introduced a “Build Back Better with Biden” island map that aims to inform and motivate you through mini games. You add solar panels and efficient air conditioning to an EV factor, install 5G towers to improve broadband, and build a research facility.To no one’s surprise, there are also conspicuous efforts to rally the vote, including a virtual polling station and signs asking you to make a voting plan. You’ll also find nods to the public images of Biden and Harris, such as a “No Malarkey Station” and a quest to collect Harris’ sneakers.You can try the Fortnite map yourself using the code 0215-4511-1823.This isn’t the first game-based campaign effort from Biden and Harris. They already have their own Animal Crossing campaign signs. Other Democrats are using gaming to get out the vote, too — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently used a high-profile Among Us stream to inspire voters.Will this work? It’s hard to say. It’s coming extremely late in an election when many have voted early. And let’s be honest: it’s hard to escape the whiff of a “how do you do, fellow kids?” attempt at relevancy from candidates who’ve likely never touched Fortnite. Still, this shows the extent to which Biden’s crew is trying to court voters during a pandemic when safe in-person rallies are difficult or impossible. Don’t be surprised if candidates try more game-based voter rallies going forward, at least when they think younger voters will be receptive.

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Biden for President

If you’re running Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and want to make a last-minute push for the youth vote, what do you do? Set up a Fortnite island, apparently. Mashable reports (via Kotaku) that the Biden-Harris campaign has introduced a “Build Back Better with Biden” island map that aims to inform and motivate you through mini games. You add solar panels and efficient air conditioning to an EV factor, install 5G towers to improve broadband, and build a research facility.

To no one’s surprise, there are also conspicuous efforts to rally the vote, including a virtual polling station and signs asking you to make a voting plan. You’ll also find nods to the public images of Biden and Harris, such as a “No Malarkey Station” and a quest to collect Harris’ sneakers.

You can try the Fortnite map yourself using the code 0215-4511-1823.

This isn’t the first game-based campaign effort from Biden and Harris. They already have their own Animal Crossing campaign signs. Other Democrats are using gaming to get out the vote, too — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently used a high-profile Among Us stream to inspire voters.

Will this work? It’s hard to say. It’s coming extremely late in an election when many have voted early. And let’s be honest: it’s hard to escape the whiff of a “how do you do, fellow kids?” attempt at relevancy from candidates who’ve likely never touched Fortnite. Still, this shows the extent to which Biden’s crew is trying to court voters during a pandemic when safe in-person rallies are difficult or impossible. Don’t be surprised if candidates try more game-based voter rallies going forward, at least when they think younger voters will be receptive.

<'Fortnite' made a historic $1.8 billion in 2019/h3> < < Fortnite won its chicken dinner in 2019 by grossing $1.8 billion in sales, more than any single-year sales total in videogame history. While the game itself is technically free-to-play, Epic Games offers a $10 per month Battle Pass as well as myriad in-game item purchases -- from clothing and weapons to dance moves and player reactions -- to keep the game's 125 million active players coming back for more. Combined with heavy marketing tie-ins to the year's biggest blockbusters, including both Avengers and Star Wars, as well as the debut of Chapter 2 in October and a marquee eSports circuit in August, it's little surprise that the game remains a cultural touchstone.Overall the gaming industry did well for itself in 2019. Nielsen notes that the industry as a whole grossed $120 billion in sales, a four percent increase over its 2018 totals. A lion's share of that total can be credited to mobile gaming with $64.4 billion in sales, followed by PC gaming with $29.4 billion, and consoles bringing in $15.4. VR/AR games and game-related videos constituted the remainder of the industry total for 2019.

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Fortnite won its chicken dinner in 2019 by grossing $1.8 billion in sales, more than any single-year sales total in videogame history. While the game itself is technically free-to-play, Epic Games offers a $10 per month Battle Pass as well as myriad in-game item purchases -- from clothing and weapons to dance moves and player reactions -- to keep the game's 125 million active players coming back for more. Combined with heavy marketing tie-ins to the year's biggest blockbusters, including both Avengers and Star Wars, as well as the debut of Chapter 2 in October and a marquee eSports circuit in August, it's little surprise that the game remains a cultural touchstone.

Overall the gaming industry did well for itself in 2019. Nielsen notes that the industry as a whole grossed $120 billion in sales, a four percent increase over its 2018 totals. A lion's share of that total can be credited to mobile gaming with $64.4 billion in sales, followed by PC gaming with $29.4 billion, and consoles bringing in $15.4. VR/AR games and game-related videos constituted the remainder of the industry total for 2019.

< < Apple has removed Fortnite from the App Store, according to Bloomberg’s Marc Gurman. The delisting comes just hours after Fortnite developer Epic Games started offering discounts on the game’s V-bucks currency and other cash purchases if players bypassed the App Store and Google Play. For the couple of hours that it was available, the discount let players save up to 20 percent on their next Fortnite purchase, and gave Epic the opportunity to avoid giving Apple the 30 percent cut it takes from third-party developers.Even for a studio that has consistently pushed back against companies like Google and Valve, the way Epic highlighted the discount was likely too brazen for Apple to ignore. While Epic still gave players the option to go through the App Store, few likely did after seeing that they could save money.Shortly after the removal, the company filed a lawsuit against Apple. Epic also announced it would stream a new short called Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite, which you can watch below. The title of the short is a reference to Apple’s iconic 1984 Macintosh ad. Epic also mentioned 1984 in their legal brief.“Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate state of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As result their Fortnite app has been removed from the Store,” said Apple. “Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.”The two companies have been moving towards a confrontation for a while now. In an interview with CNBC this past July, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney criticized the tech giant for the 30 percent revenue cut it takes from developers. “They [Apple] are preventing an entire category of businesses and applications from being engulfed in their ecosystem by virtue of excluding competitors from each aspect of their business that they’re protecting,” Sweeney said.This isn’t the first time Sweeney and Epic have picked a fight with a tech giant. In 2016, the executive penned a scathing op-ed against Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Sweeney argued the initiative was the first step toward Microsoft locking down a monopoly on app distribution in Windows 10. In a way, Sweeney and company won. While Microsoft hasn’t abandoned UWP, it has in the years since significantly scaled back the project.Epic isn’t the only company that has criticized Apple for its App Store policies. Two other high-profile examples include Spotify and Basecamp. The tech giant is also the subject of antitrust investigations in the US and EU.

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Apple has removed Fortnite from the App Store, according to Bloomberg’s Marc Gurman. The delisting comes just hours after Fortnite developer Epic Games started offering discounts on the game’s V-bucks currency and other cash purchases if players bypassed the App Store and Google Play. For the couple of hours that it was available, the discount let players save up to 20 percent on their next Fortnite purchase, and gave Epic the opportunity to avoid giving Apple the 30 percent cut it takes from third-party developers.

Even for a studio that has consistently pushed back against companies like Google and Valve, the way Epic highlighted the discount was likely too brazen for Apple to ignore. While Epic still gave players the option to go through the App Store, few likely did after seeing that they could save money.

Shortly after the removal, the company filed a lawsuit against Apple. Epic also announced it would stream a new short called Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite, which you can watch below. The title of the short is a reference to Apple’s iconic 1984 Macintosh ad. Epic also mentioned 1984 in their legal brief.

“Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate state of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As result their Fortnite app has been removed from the Store,” said Apple. “Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.”

The two companies have been moving towards a confrontation for a while now. In an interview with CNBC this past July, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney criticized the tech giant for the 30 percent revenue cut it takes from developers. “They [Apple] are preventing an entire category of businesses and applications from being engulfed in their ecosystem by virtue of excluding competitors from each aspect of their business that they’re protecting,” Sweeney said.

This isn’t the first time Sweeney and Epic have picked a fight with a tech giant. In 2016, the executive penned a scathing op-ed against Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Sweeney argued the initiative was the first step toward Microsoft locking down a monopoly on app distribution in Windows 10. In a way, Sweeney and company won. While Microsoft hasn’t abandoned UWP, it has in the years since significantly scaled back the project.

Epic isn’t the only company that has criticized Apple for its App Store policies. Two other high-profile examples include Spotify and Basecamp. The tech giant is also the subject of antitrust investigations in the US and EU.

< <Epic Games is apparently trying to navigate some difficult cultural waters. Gamers report that Epic has removed all police cars from Fortnite as of the shooter’s latest update, and the Wall Street Journal understands that it was in response to Black Lives Matter protests over police violence. The developer wasn’t trying to make a “political statement,” according to a WSJ source — rather, it was trying to be “sensitive about the issues” players are dealing with.We’ve asked Epic for comment.The broader game industry has endorsed the Black Lives Matter cause, including a message in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and temporary shutdowns of GTA Online and Red Dead Online. Epic appears to be taking a milder approach with Fortnite, acknowledging the outrage without explicitly advocating for a cause. The company previously stressed that it wouldn’t ban players for political speech.This is also the latest example of the challenges game studios face when addressing politics. While games frequently include political commentary either in their content or from their players, companies are often hesitant to support any one position lest they alienate potential buyers or even entire countries. Ubisoft, for instance, maintained that The Division 2 was apolitical despite conspicuous themes. Epic may be in a similarly difficult position — it has a lot of players and revenue to lose if it sparks an uproar, regardless of which side it takes.

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Epic Games is apparently trying to navigate some difficult cultural waters. Gamers report that Epic has removed all police cars from Fortnite as of the shooter’s latest update, and the Wall Street Journal understands that it was in response to Black Lives Matter protests over police violence. The developer wasn’t trying to make a “political statement,” according to a WSJ source — rather, it was trying to be “sensitive about the issues” players are dealing with.

We’ve asked Epic for comment.

The broader game industry has endorsed the Black Lives Matter cause, including a message in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and temporary shutdowns of GTA Online and Red Dead Online. Epic appears to be taking a milder approach with Fortnite, acknowledging the outrage without explicitly advocating for a cause. The company previously stressed that it wouldn’t ban players for political speech.

This is also the latest example of the challenges game studios face when addressing politics. While games frequently include political commentary either in their content or from their players, companies are often hesitant to support any one position lest they alienate potential buyers or even entire countries. Ubisoft, for instance, maintained that The Division 2 was apolitical despite conspicuous themes. Epic may be in a similarly difficult position — it has a lot of players and revenue to lose if it sparks an uproar, regardless of which side it takes.