Casual Gaming News: Fortnite banned from App Store as Epic Games sues Apple

Phoebe

4 years ago

Casual Gaming News: 8/10/20 – 8/16/20

We’re back again to break down the gaming news for this week. If you have any suggestions for news headlines we’ve missed, let us know in the comments!

First up on Casual Gaming News this week:

Playing Computer Games ‘Helps Improve Children’s Literacy And Overall Wellbeing’

A survey of 4,626 young people aged 11 to 16 in the UK found that games offer a route into reading and encourage creativity through writing, according to the research by the National Literacy Trust. Their study found that 73% of reluctant readers say playing video games helps them feel like they are part of a story. 65% say video games help them imagine being someone else – suggesting potential benefits for empathy.

This is great news for all gaming fans out there. Video games get so much stick for “turning children violent” when it isn’t the truth at all. Video games open up so much creativity and allow you to escape into a new world. We’re so happy to see something positive about children and video games!

Black ‘The Sims 4’ Players Are Changing One of the World’s Biggest Games

The Sims 4’s black players have had enough of not being represented well in the popular simulation game. “Isn’t it weird that EA/The Sims posted all that stuff to BLM but STILL POC can’t create themself in THEIR life simulation game without the help of [custom content]?” One player wrote on Twitter. “Where’s the logic?” On August 11th, after years of effort, they managed to change the future of The Sims, which promised to give players better options for creating Sims with dark skin, and address issues with dark skin as it’s currently implemented.

Inclusivity is so important and it’s unacceptable for EA to continue to ignore black players who have to keep downloading mods in order to get what they want. It doesn’t make sense for EA to talk about the Black Lives Matter movement but ignore their loyal players. We’re happy to see changes are finally coming!

Fortnite Banned From App Store As Epic Games Sues Apple

Epic Games is suing Apple because they’ve taken Fortnite off the App Store, as part of a long-running dispute regarding the 30% cut Apple takes from all in-app purchases.

On Thursday, Epic offered an option to buy V-Bucks, Fortnite’s in-game currency, directly from them at a 20% discount. This is against the App Store guidelines, which state that all payments have to go through them so that Apple can claim 30% of the revenues.

Epic clearly knew that this would cause Apple to remove Fortnite, as they filed their lawsuit within minutes of it happening. Indeed, the whole thing seems to be part of a complex plan by Epic to try and set-up their own app store as competition, just as they created a competitor to Steam on the PC.

Sad news for any iPhone Fortnite user out there as this feud seems to be bubbling. But don’t worry, if Epic Games are trying to set up their own app store, everything will work out in the end. It’s unfortunate as we’re sure a lot of people have spent a lot of money on Fortnite. So make sure you can get a refund for the items you didn’t use!

PUBG Subreddit Labelled As The Most Toxic Gaming Community Online

A new research study helmed by 3D Aim Trainer has analyzed gaming communities across Reddit to uncover the most “toxic” gaming communities online. The study analyzed thousands of comments from subreddit forums of the most popular gaming communities to identify toxic behaviors, opinions, and in-game activity which was then ranked on a 10-point scale. Of the games analyzed, the study found PUBG’s community to be the most toxic, with an average score of 7,655 out of 10.

It’s no surprise that this has been concluded, especially since PUBG players tend to shout abuse during the actual gameplay. It’s sad that something as fun as a battle royale game can become such a toxic environment and we hope the people in the subreddit can learn from this.

Call of Duty Mobile Season 9 Release Date REVEALED Before Big COD Mobile Update

Activision has confirmed that the Call of Duty Mobile Season 9 release date has been set for Sunday, August 16, on Android and iOS devices. The company has been teasing the launch of the new COD Mobile update for this week. They’ve certainly waited until the very last moment to launch the new Season 9 content.

Calling all Call of Duty Mobile players, Sunday is your day and we can’t wait to join you! Season 9 sounds like it’s going to be amazing and we have no doubt about that.