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- Epic Games, the company behind "Fortnite," released a video on Thursday that parodies Apple's famous "1984" television ad.
- Titled "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite," the Epic Games video contains multiple Easter eggs taking swipes at Apple, the company's rigid App Store rules and at CEO Tim Cook. Details in the video also reveal Epic's carefully orchestrated plan to escalate its battle with Apple.
- Epic also filed suit against Apple on Thursday, alleging that the iPhone-maker engaged in monopolistic practices on the App Store.
- Apple yanked "Fortnite" from the App Store Thursday after Epic began offering players the option the circumvent the App Store when making in-app purchases.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .
Epic Games just declared war on Apple with a spoof of the company's most iconic ad — and it's chock-full of clever Easter eggs.
The video game company released a video on Thursday titled "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite," a play on Apple's "1984" television ad which aired during the Super Bowl that year, and which was itself based on George Orwell's dystopian novel, "Nineteen Eighty-Four." In Epic's video, a unicorn-pickaxe-wielding heroine races through a hall full of drone-like viewers, unable to tear their eyes away from an apple-headed dictator onscreen.
"Today we celebrate the anniversary of the platform unification directives," the dictator says. "For years, they have given us their songs, their labor, their dreams. In exchange, we have taken our tribute, our profits, our control. This power is ours and ours alone. We shall prevail."
The video is a parody of Apple's own ad, but it's also a jab at Apple's controversial App Store policies. Epic announced on Thursday that it had started offering players the option to pay Epic directly for in-game purchases rather than going through the App Store, which charges a 30% commission on app purchases. As a result, Apple pulled "Fortnite" from the App Store, leading Epic to release the video and sue Apple for what it alleges are monopolistic business practices .
While "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite" is a light-hearted mockery in the spirit of Epic's cartoonish yet hyper-popular video game, it also contains multiple Easter eggs and hidden meanings. Take a look at what we've noticed so far.
The dictator in the video has the head of an apple with a bite taken out of it, much like Apple's logo. In this case, the apple appears to be rotten — there's a worm sticking out of it.
The "Big Brother" character seems like he's modeled after Apple CEO Tim Cook: he's wearing dark, oval-shaped sunglasses similar to the pair Cook favors.
Here's Tim Cook sporting his shades.
When the camera pans to the runner, the walls behind her are emblazoned with the App Store terms stating that Apple is entitled to a 30% commission on app purchases.
The apple-headed dictator in the video is labeled "App Monitor" in reference to Epic's dispute with the App Store policies.
The date-stamp on the video lines up with Thursday's date, meaning Epic was prepared for tensions to escalate with Apple.
You can watch the full "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite" video below.
Via PakApNews