Epic Games is suing Apple - The Verge

Epic Games is suing Apple
Epic Games is suing Apple
In This Stream
Epic Games v. Apple: the fight for the future of the App Store
Next Up In Gaming
Sign up for the  newsletter
Verge Deals

Epic Games is suing Apple - The Verge
Skip to main content
clock
menu
more-arrow
no
yes
The Verge homepage
Follow The Verge online:
Follow The Verge on Facebook
Follow The Verge on Twitter
RSS feed (all stories on The Verge)
Log in or sign up
Log In
Sign Up
Site search
Search
Search
The Verge main menu
Tech
Video
Amazon
Apple
Facebook
Google
Microsoft
Samsung
Tesla
AI
Cars
Cybersecurity
Mobile
Policy
Privacy
Scooters
All Tech
Reviews
Phones
Laptops
Headphones
Cameras
Tablets
Smartwatches
Speakers
Drones
Accessories
Buying Guides
How-tos
Deals
More from Verge Reviews
Science
Video
Space
NASA
SpaceX
Health
Energy
Environment
All Science
Creators
YouTube
Instagram
Adobe
Kickstarter
Tumblr
Art Club
Cameras
Photography
What’s in your bag?
All Creators
Entertainment
Film
TV
Games
Fortnite
Game of Thrones
Books
Comics
Music
All Entertainment
Video
Features
Podcasts
Newsletters
Store
✕
Filed under:
Apple
Gaming
Policy
Epic Games is suing Apple
New,
186
comments
Epic has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit following Apple’s removal of Fortnite from the App Store
By Nick Statt @nickstatt Aug 13, 2020, 3:46pm EDT
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Game developer and publisher Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against Apple following the removal of the iOS version of its battle royale game Fortnite from the App Store earlier today.
The legal complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks to establish Apple’s App Store as a monopoly, and the civil suit is seeking injunctive relief to “allow fair competition” in mobile app distribution. Epic effectively provoked Apple’s removal of Fortnite earlier today when it implemented its own payment processing system into the iOS version of the battle royale hit, an apparent violation of Apple’s App Store guidelines.
“Epic brings this suit to end Apple’s unfair and anti-competitive actions that Apple undertakes to unlawfully maintain its monopoly in two distinct, multibillion dollar markets: (i) the iOS App Distribution Market, and (ii) the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market (each as defined below),” the complaint reads.
Epic Games has filed legal papers in response to Apple, read more here: https://t.co/c4sgvxQUvb
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 13, 2020
“Epic is not seeking monetary compensation from this Court for the injuries it has suffered. Nor is Epic seeking favorable treatment for itself, a single company. Instead, Epic is seeking injunctive relief to allow fair competition in these two key markets that directly affect hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of thousands, if not more, of third-party app developers.”
Here are Epic’s primary claims in support of the argument Apple has violated US antitrust law:
Apple unlawfully maintains its monopoly power in the iOS App Distribution Market through the anti-competitive acts described herein, including by imposing technical and contractual restrictions on iOS, which prevents the distribution of iOS apps through means other than the App Store and prevents developers from distributing competing app stores to iOS users.
Apple unlawfully maintains its monopoly power in the iOS App Distribution Market through its unlawful denial to Epic and other app distributors of an essential facility—access to iOS—which prevents them from competing in the iOS App Distribution Market.
To reach iOS users, Apple forces developers to agree to Apple’s unlawful terms contained in its Developer Agreement and to comply with Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines, including the requirement iOS developers distribute their apps through the App Store. These contractual provision unlawfully foreclose the iOS App Distribution Market to competitors and maintain Apple’s monopoly.
Apple has unlawfully maintained its monopoly in these markets through the anti-competitive acts alleged herein, including by forcing, through its contractual terms and unlawful policies, iOS app developers that sell in-app content to exclusively use Apple’s In-App Purchase, and preventing and discouraging app developers from developing or integrating alternative payment processing solutions.
To reach iOS app users, Apple forces developers to agree to Apple’s unlawful terms contained in its Developer Agreement, including that they use Apple’s InApp Purchase for in-app purchases of in-app content to the exclusion of any alternative solution or third-party payment processor. Further, Section 3.1.3 of Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines unlawfully prohibits developers from “directly or indirectly target [ing] iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase”.
Apple is able to unlawfully condition access to the App Store on the developer’s use of a second product—In-App Purchase—for in-app sales of in-app content. Through its Developer Agreement and unlawful policies, Apple expressly conditions the use of its App Store on the use of its In-App Purchase to the exclusion of alternative solutions in a per se unlawful tying arrangement.
Epic is alleging Apple has a monopoly in the form of the iPhone, the iOS ecosystem, and the App Store that binds them together, and that Apple places unreasonable restrictions on the distribution of iOS apps — again, the only way to get software onto the iPhone (or iPad). The complaint is also alleging Apple places unreasonable restrictions on payment processing within iOS apps.
Epic doesn’t take issue with the fact that Apple requires developers to use the App Store. Rather, the game studio thinks it’s unfair Apple requires you to use its payment methods, which thereby gives Apple 30 percent of all in-app revenue on the digital goods that make up the entirety of Fortnite ’s business model.
Epic is trying to break up what it sees as Apple’s monopoly on iOS
“Apple is able to unlawfully condition access to the App Store on the developer’s use of a second product—In-App Purchase—for in-app sales of in-app content,” the complaint reads. “Through its Developer Agreement and unlawful policies, Apple expressly conditions the use of its App Store on the use of its In-App Purchase to the exclusion of alternative solutions in a per se unlawful tying arrangement.”
Epic in its complaint leans heavily on the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, a monumental piece of antitrust legislation in the US used to break up monopolies during the turn of the 20th century. It remains the pillar of US antitrust law, and Epic claims Apple has violated six separate accounts of the Sherman Antitrust Act: an “unlawful monopoly” in the form of the App Store; “denial of essential facility” in iOS app distribution; “unreasonable restraints of trade” in iOS app distribution; and then similar counts for in-app payment processing on iOS.
The final count referencing the Sherman Act is over Apple “tying the App Store in the iOS App Distribution Market to In-App Purchase in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market” — effectively creating what Epic sees as a monopoly harming competition and causing harm to consumers through inflated pricing. (The complaint also accuses Apple of three counts of violating the California Cartwright Act, a state antitrust law prohibiting price-fixing and trade restraint agreements, and one count of violating California Unfair Competition Law.) Epic is able to make the pricing argument because it specifically lowered prices on its in-game Fortnite currency when it implemented its own payment processing system, saying it was passing the savings onto consumers in what is now a clear ploy to paint Apple’s decision as anti-consumer.
“In other words, app developers are coerced into using In-App Purchase by virtue of wanting to use the App Store. Apple’s unlawful tying arrangement thus ties two separate products that are in separate markets and coerces Epic and other developers to rely on both of Apple’s products,” the complaint explains. “Epic has been harmed by Apple’s anti-competitive conduct in a manner that the antitrust laws were intended to prevent. Epic has suffered and continues to suffer harm and irreparable injury, and such harm and injury will not abate until an injunction ending Apple’s anti-competitive conduct issues.”
Scribd
scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.scribd.
Complaint for Injunctive Relief
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Paul J. Riehle (SBN 115199) paul.riehle@fa
egredrinker.com
FAEGRE DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP
Four Embarcadero Center San Francisco, California 94111 Telephone: (415)
591-7500
Facsimile: (415)
591-7510
Christine A. Varney (
pro hac vice pending
) cvarney@cravath.com Katherine B. Forrest (
pro hac vice pending
) kforrest@cravath.com Gary A. Bornstein (
pro hac vice pending
) gbornstein@cravath.com Yonatan Even (
pro hac vice pending
) yeven@cravath.com M. Brent Byars (
pro hac vice pending
) mbyars@cravath.com
CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP
825 Eighth Avenue New York, New
York 10019
Telephone: (212)
474-1000
Facsimile: (212)
474-3700
Attorneys for Plaintiff Epic Games, Inc.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
EPIC GAMES, INC., Plaintiff, vs. APPLE INC., Defendant. Case No. ______________
_____
COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
Complaint for Injunctive Relief
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NATURE OF THE ACTI ON .............................................................................................. 1
PARTIES......... ..................................................................................................................... 8
JURISDICTION AND VENUE ............... ......................................................................... 10
INTRADISTRICT ASSIGNMENT ............... ................................................................... 12
RELEVANT FACTS ............... .......................................................................................... 12
I.
Apple Monopolizes the iOS App Distribution Market. .................... ...................... 12
A.
The iOS App Distribution Market. ................................................................ 16
B.
Apple’s Monopoly Power in the iOS App Distribution Market.
.................. 17
C.
Apple’s Anti
-competitive Conduct in the iOS App Distribution Market.......... .................................................................................................. 19
i.
Technical Restrictions ............ ............................................................. 19
ii.
Contractual Restrictions ................. ..................................................... 19
iii.
Lack of Procompetitiv e Justification .................................................. 22
D.
Anti-competit ive Effects in the iOS App Distribution Market. .................... 23
II.
Apple Monopolizes the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market. ......................... 27
A.
The iOS In-App Payment Processing Market. .............................................. 28
B.
Apple’s Monopoly Power in the iOS In
-App Payment Processing Market.......... .................................................................................................. 30
C.
Apple’s Anti
-competitive Conduct in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market. ............... ......................................................................... 32
i.
Contractual and Policy Restrictions .................................................... 32
ii.
Lack of Procompetitiv e Justification .................................................. 33
D.
Anti-competit ive Effects in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market.......... .................................................................................................. 34
III.
Competition in the Sale of Mobile Devices Cannot Discipline Apple’s
Conduct in the iOS App Distribution or iOS In-App Payment Processing Markets. ................. .................................................................................................. 38
A.
Apple’s Mobile Device Customers Face Substantial Switching Costs
and iOS Lock-In. ..................... ...................................................................... 38
B.
Apple’s Sticky iOS Ecosystem Protects its Dominance in the Sales of
Mobile Devices. ............ ................................................................................. 42
Complaint for Injunctive Relief
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
C.
Information Costs and Other Market Inefficiencies in the iOS App Distribution and iOS In-App Payment Processing Markets. ...................... .. 44
COUNT 1: Sherman Act § 2 (Unlawful Monopoly Maintenance in the iOS App Distribution Market) ............... ................................................................................. 47
COUNT 2: Sherman Act § 2 (Denial of Essential Facility in the iOS App Distribution Market) ............... ................................................................................. 48
COUNT 3: Sherman Act § 1 (Unreasonable Restraints of Trade in the iOS App Distribution Market) ............... ................................................................................. 49
COUNT 4: Sherman Act § 2 (Unlawful Monopoly Maintenance in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market) ................... ................................................................ 51
COUNT 5: Sherman Act § 1 (Unreasonable Restraints of Trade in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market) ................... ................................................................ 52
COUNT 6: Sherman Act § 1 (Tying the App S tore in the iOS App Distribution Market to In-App Purchase in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market) ........ 53
COUNT 7: California Car twright Act (Unreasonable Restraints of Trade in the iOS App Distribution Market) ................................................................................. 55
COUNT 8: California Car twright Act (Unreasonable Restraints of Trade in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market) .......... ..................................................... 56
COUNT 9: California Cartw right Act (Tying the App Store in the iOS App Distribution Market to In-App Purchase in the iOS In-App Payment Processing Market) ................. ................................................................................. 58
COUNT 10: California Unfair Competition Law ............................................................. 61
PRAYER FOR RELIEF ................ .................................................................................... 61
1 Complaint for Injunctive Relief
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Plaintiff Epic Games, Inc. (
“
Epic
”
), by its undersigned counsel, alleges, with knowledge with respect to its own acts and on information and belief as to other matters, as follows:
NATURE OF THE ACTION
1.
In 1984, the fledgling Apple computer company released the Macintosh
—
the first mass-m
arket, consumer-friendly home computer. The product
launch was announced with a breathtaking advertisement evoking George Orwell’s
1984
that cast Apple as a beneficial, revolutionary force breaking IBM
’s
monopoly over the computing
technology market. Apple
’
s founder Steve Jobs introduced the first showing of the 1984 advertisement by explaining,
“
it appears IBM wants it all. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run fo
r its money . . . . Will Big Blue dominate the
entire computer industry? The entire information age? Was George Orwell right about
1984?”
2.
Fast forward to 2020, and Apple has become what it once railed against: the behemoth see
king to control markets, block competition, and stifle
innovation. Apple is bigger, more powe
rful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than
the monopolists of yesteryear
. At a market cap
of nearly $2 trillion, Apple’s size and
reach far exceeds that of any technology monopolist in history. 3.
This case concerns Apple’s use of a series of
anti-competitive restraints and monopolistic practices in markets for (i) the distribution of software
applications (“apps”) to users of mobile computing devices like smartphones and tablets,
and (ii) the processing of
consumers’ payments
for digital content used within iOS mobile apps
(“in
-app c
ontent”)
. Apple impose
s unreasonable and unlawful restraints to
completely monopolize both markets and prevent software developers from reaching the over one billion users of its mobile devices (
e.g.
, iPhone and iPad) unless they go through a single store controlled by Apple, the App Store, where Apple exacts an oppressive 30% tax on the sale of every app. Apple also requires softwa
re developers who wish to sell
of 65
View on Scribd
In This Stream
Epic Games v. Apple: the fight for the future of the App Store
A courtroom artist’s view of the Epic v. Apple trial
Epic Games is suing Apple
Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
View all 89 stories
Next Up In Gaming
Sign up for the  newsletter
Verge Deals
Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week.
Email (required)
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy.
Share this story
Twitter
Facebook


Health Benefits of Jackfruit
Menu
Health Benefits of Jackfruit
Articles On Benefits of Fruit
Nutrients per Serving
Vitamins
Antioxidants
Next In Benefits of Fruit

Jackfruit: Nutrition, Health Benefits, & How to Prepare
Menu
Food & Recipes Home
News
Reference
Slideshows
Quizzes
Videos
Recipes
Questions & Answers
Health & Cooking Guide
Healthy Eating
Food & Nutrients
Smart Swaps
Grocery Shopping
Cooking Tips
Special Diets
Benefits of Fruit
Benefits of Pineapple
Benefits of Oranges
Cranberry Benefits
Jackfruit Nutrition
Dragon Fruit Benefits
Is Frozen Yogurt Healthy?
Related to Food & Cooking
Healthy Recipe Finder
Diet & Weight Management
Fitness & Exercise
Food Poisoning
Food & Fitness Planner
Diabetes
Cholesterol Management
More Related Topics
Food & Recipes
Reference
Menu
Health Benefits of Jackfruit
Reviewed by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD on June 19, 2019
Articles On Benefits of Fruit
Benefits of Pineapple
Benefits of Oranges
Cranberry Benefits
Jackfruit Nutrition
Dragon Fruit Benefits
Is Frozen Yogurt Healthy?
The largest tree fruit in the world, jackfruit -- sometimes called "jak fruit" or "jak" -- can be up to 3 feet long and 20 inches wide. Just one fruit can weigh as much as 110 pounds. But you're not alone if you haven't heard of it.
While jackfruit first appeared in the rain forests of India, farmers now grow it in many parts of the world, including Thailand, Australia, Africa, Brazil, and the Philippines. Only in recent years has jackfruit started to become well known in the U.S.
The rind of a jackfruit is green or yellow and spikey. Although it gives off a smell of rotting onions when it's ripe and ready to eat, the pulp inside smells and tastes far better: like a cross between pineapple and bananas. You can eat the seeds, too. And a jackfruit has plenty of them -- up to 500. Each can reach an inch and a half in length.
There are two main types of jackfruit. One is small and mushy. It tastes sweet, but it's slimy. The other type of jackfruit has crisp, crunchy flesh that's not as sweet.
Nutrients per Serving
One cup of sliced raw jackfruit has:
Calories: 157
Fat: 2 grams
Carbs: 38 grams
Protein: 3 grams
Calcium: 40 milligrams
Vitamins
Jackfruit may be higher in some vitamins and minerals than apples, apricots, bananas, and avocados. For example, it's rich in vitamin C and one of the few fruits that's high in B vitamins.
Jackfruit also contains folate, niacin, riboflavin, potassium, and magnesium.
Antioxidants
Carotenoids, the pigments that give jackfruit its yellow color, are high in vitamin A. Like all antioxidants, carotenoids protect cells from damage and help your body work right. They may help prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease, as well as eye problems like cataracts and macular degeneration.
As a jackfruit ripens, its carotenoid levels may go up.
Jackfruit also contains many other antioxidants that can help delay or prevent cell damage in your body. While the inside flesh is high in these disease-fighting compounds, the seeds may contain even more.
Health Benefits
The nutrients in jackfruit may help lower your risk for some health issues, including:
Continued
Constipation. Jackfruit is a good source of fiber, so it could help you feel fuller for longer and help keep your bowel movements regular.
Ulcers. The natural chemicals in jackfruit may help prevent these sores from forming inside your stomach.
Diabetes. Your body digests and absorbs jackfruit more slowly than some other foods. That means your blood sugar won't rise as quickly as it might when you eat other fruits. One study found that jackfruit extract made it easier for people with diabetes to control their blood sugar.
High blood pressure. The potassium in this tropical fruit could help lower your blood pressure, which can help stave off heart disease, stroke, and bone loss.
Skin problems. The high amounts of vitamin C in jackfruit may help protect your skin from sun damage. You need plenty of that nutrient to keep your skin firm and strong.
Cancer. Phytonutrients, like those found in jackfruit, are natural compounds that might have cancer-fighting benefits, such as preventing cancer cells from forming in your body.
Risks and Warnings
While a jackfruit allergy is rare, you're at higher risk if you have a birch pollen allergy. This means that you have an itchy mouth or swollen lips when you eat other foods in this group such as apples, almonds, carrots, celery, cherries, and hazelnuts.
How to Prepare It
Jackfruit isn't easy to peel because of its sticky sap. To keep it from gumming up your knife and hands, rub them with cooking oil before you slice open your fruit. Once you do, it will take time to separate the fleshy bulbs you can eat from tough strips of membrane, which you can't. You'll then have to remove the seeds from each bulb.
You may prefer to eat jackfruit before it's fully ripe and the rind starts to smell like spoiled onions. If you cut it into chunks and boil them in salted water until they're tender, you can easily slice the meaty flesh from the rind. You can roast or boil the seeds like chestnuts.
Continued
If you don't want to prepare your own jackfruit, look for canned or ready-to-eat jackfruit at the store. You can find it seasoned with a savory BBQ or teriyaki sauce. Some people use these as a meat substitute. You can also get it preserved in a sweet, heavy syrup like other canned fruits.
Here's a recipe for jackfruit barbecue sandwiches.
How to Store
Once a jackfruit's ripe, it will turn brown and go bad quickly. To keep yours fresh, store it in the refrigerator. When kept cool and dry, a ripe jackfruit can last up to 6 weeks.
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Email Print
Pagination
1
2
3
View All
Next In Benefits of Fruit
Dragon Fruit Benefits


The Area 51 Raid Was the Worst Way to Spot an Alien or UFO
The Area 51 Raid Was the Worst Way to Spot an Alien or UFO
Dozens of revelers gathered near the top-secret base, purportedly hoping to glimpse some extraterrestrial life—but all they got were memes and selfies.
LEARN MORE
LEARN MORE

The Area 51 Raid Was the Worst Way to Spot an Alien or UFO | WIRED
Sarah Scole s
Science
09.20.2019 06:18 PM
The Area 51 Raid Was the Worst Way to Spot an Alien or UFO
Dozens of revelers gathered near the top-secret base, purportedly hoping to glimpse some extraterrestrial life—but all they got were memes and selfies.
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Save Story
Save this story for later.
Photograph: John Locher/AP
Normally, when you turn onto Highway 375 from Crystal Springs, in Nevada, a big green road sign sits near picnic tables and shade trees baking under the relentless desert sun. EXTRATERRESTRIAL HIGHWAY, the sign reads, in a retro-futuristic font suggestive of a space computer. This road was so named—around the time Independence Day came out—because it’s the stretch of asphalt closest to Area 51. Many a curious visitor have traveled its miles, watching for jet tests and drone forays, hoping to see something they might later boast was a UFO. For decades, some have thought the secretive base holds not just jets within its boundaries but also maybe aliens and their technology. This, of course, is conspiracy theory, based on not much but strange aerodynamic sightings and the word of a man named Bob Lazar. But the region kind of embraces its notoriety with a wink-wink and a nudge-nudge.
This week, though, the sign disappeared, removed in advance of the Storm Area 51 events taking place in the towns of Rachel and Hiko, Nevada. Officials were afraid that too many people would stop to pose for selfies, snarling the intersection. If the festivities so far, including Friday’s early-morning “attempt” to “breach” the base, are any indication, that is exactly the kind of trouble officials should have been worried about.
The joke Facebook event that started it all—by suggesting people storm the gates of Area 51—purported to be about uncovering government secrets. In reality it was about launching a meme and rocketing its creator to fame. It worked.
At the “raid,” there was no storming, there were no aliens, and there were no steel-eyed demands to expose government secrets. There wasn’t even really any serious UFO-truthing. There were just a bunch of kids in bright clothes, pointing cameras at each other, shouting meme text in ragged unison.
When I drove down Extraterrestrial Highway on Wednesday evening, around half of the cars I passed were law enforcement. Their white sides whooshed by, their presence anomalous in this valley where almost no one lives.
Photograph: Sarah Scoles
With so little human-friendly infrastructure, and a lot of secrets to guard, the region had many reasons to beef up security. Curiously, though, so far there’s no sign of Area 51’s actual security—which know-it-alls call Camo Dudes, the contract intimidators who drive unmarked Ford Raptors, cruise the dirt roads between the ET highway and the base’s perimeter, follow you, visit your campsite after dark, and sit on a hill above the front gate.
They don’t speak to or interact with you until you break the rules; in fact, they often cover their faces as they pass oncoming cars. Their function, for the most part, seems to be to act so scary that you don’t consider breaking the rules. When I visited last fall to do some reporting for a UFO culture book, the tactics worked.
The police here for Storm Area 51, though, were friendly—jovial even. They encouraged people to go up to the gates—perhaps in a “nothing to see here, ma’am” kind of way—and seemed mostly curious about what would happen. Plus, this early in the week, they probably outnumbered the visitors. A meaningless digital RSVP, it turns out, isn’t just a problem for your dinner party. It’s a problem for secret-base raids, too.
On Thursday morning, a few people meandered around the Little A’Le’Inn, the only business in Rachel, Nevada—not just an inn but a bar, restaurant, and alien-themed souvenir shop—the base for an event formerly known as Alienstock and now, after befalling some misfortune, called A’le’Inn Stock. With not many people onsite, I headed to Area 51’s back gate instead, a 20-ish-minute drive from Rachel, in search of the crowd.
Dust rolls out from behind my car like a wave rip-curling. It’s so dry out here that any guards could see cars coming for miles and miles before they arrived, evidence of their progress showing up like tiny, turbulent tornadoes. And indeed, the officer is ready for me when I arrive. He was called in from Lake Tahoe, he says, greeting me and a man from Ohio, who pulls up with a “LET’S SEE THEM ALIENS” sign. He asks if I would take his picture. “PHOTOGRAPHY OF THIS AREA IS PROHIBITED” blares a red sign right behind him.
“Can I take a picture?” I ask the officer.
“Sure, go ahead,” he says.
Later in the day, I go to the other gate, where there’s now a roadblock maybe a quarter-mile before the gate itself. Lincoln County police mill around, thumbs in belt loops and vest hems. The car can’t go any farther, they say, but I’m welcome to walk right up to the gate, with its cyclops cameras and razor wire. As I press on, the officer begins to walk and chat with me, and another officer follows behind us. It’s a low-key version of escorting, one that makes it seem like they just enjoy my company, keeping the mood light. They’re not going to stop anybody from storming the gate, they say. That’s for the people on the inside.
LEARN MORE
The WIRED Guide to Aliens
By Thursday evening, the crowds have begun to arrive, though not in droves. Yes, the A’le’Inn has rows of RVs parked in dusty squares. Yes, camps constellate the Bureau of Land Management acres throughout the valley, cases of Bud Light’s special-edition green-man cans stashed in coolers and camper refrigerators and Camry trunks. Pulling up, I see people in true tin-foil hats, a guy mooning a camera with his alien boxers, and two young women in skin-sucking green suits. But up by the stage, where a band begins to play before the scheduled time (a miracle), the number of people counts in the dozens. Behind them sprawls an enormous dust parking lot, empty except for some twentysomethings practicing “Naruto running” beneath the floodlights, off-leash dogs uneasy with the bass levels, and people coming and going from the PortaPotties that probably outnumber the permanent residents of Rachel.
Photograph: Sarah Scoles
I listen for an hour or so before heading back to my off-site camp to set an alarm for 1:30 am—so I can see if anyone will, in fact, try to storm Area 51. When I get to my spot, a few miles away from town, the rumbling of military jets throttles the sky. I look ahead of the sound, where the fast-traveling craft would be. And there I see two triangular-looking somethings, flying close together and high up. I wave.
This, of course, is what visits to Area 51 are traditionally about. It is the isolation, the quiet, and the darkness that brought the military here in the first place. It is the lack of everything that makes it an appealing secret spot. It is the experience of that environment that feels meaningful and transgressive, historically.
It’s different now. To visit when speakers drown out aerospace-y sounds, when stage lights blind you to the aircraft that might be hovering above, when there are so many eyes that the Air Force would be crazy to test anything actually advanced—it kind of makes a trip to Area 51 not very much like a trip to Area 51.
When my alarm goes off in the middle of the night, I can see headlights on Back Gate Road. Hovering low over the higher ground in the distance, they look vaguely UFO-like. Still, when I approach the gate—where there’s now a roadblock—the number of cars parked there is underwhelming. Dudes in a giant Dodge Ram truck are playing extremely loud electronica that seems to be the same 30-second loop over and over.
“If BLM comes up here they’re going to be extremely upset,” an officer says to them through a loudspeaker. They do not change their volume.
I get out of the car and stand hesitantly in the middle of the road, unsure if it’s just our cars that aren’t allowed close to the entrance, or if we ourselves are breaking the rules. The officer sees me and speaks again into his mic. “You can go up to the gate,” he says to me but for all to hear. “You can jump it, but I’d highly advise against it.”
LEARN MORE
The WIRED Guide to Memes
I give a thumbs up and approach the gate, where I am surrounded mostly by people a decade or more younger than me. The number of video cameras and video-taking phones they hold nearly outnumbers them. A kid wanders around wearing a white sweatshirt with a YouTube logo on the front and the words CREATOR CREATOR CREATOR CREATOR CREATOR in a column on the back.
“That’s Macklemore,” jokes a police officer, as a young guy narrating into a lens walks our way, wearing a too-big fur coat and patterned joggers. Journalists film the YouTubers filming themselves. The police stand to the side, some taking pictures too.
Trying to get out of everyone’s shots takes more evasive effort than it might to get past the actual Area 51 gates. There is much more capturing of experience than experience.
At 3 am, the appointed time for the raid, a Bluetooth speaker starts playing The Final Countdown. The creators take footage of each other posing like they’re about to sprint for it. One person Naruto-runs parallel to the gate. Their lenses stare into one another, their gazes meta.
“Do it for the meme!” someone yells from the back.
“Do it for the Vine!” shouts someone else. “I was told if you go in, they’ll bring back Vine,” he adds, a little more quietly.
UFOs, their purported alien pilots, and the secrets shrouding both have always reflected the culture that birthed them. Anthropologists sometimes call them some version of a “mirror,” in which we look out to space and see ourselves. They probably didn’t mean for the creators to take it quite so literally.
Jack Conte, Patreon, and the plight of the creative class
What happened to Urban Dictionary?
Six reasons to ditch Chrome for the Vivaldi browser on Android
How tech firms like Uber hide behind the “platform defense”
Uncertainty isn't always a problem— it can be the solution
👁 How do machines learn? Plus, read the latest news on artificial intelligence
💻 Upgrade your work game with our Gear team’s favorite laptops, keyboards, typing alternatives, and noise-canceling headphones
Sarah Scoles is the author of Making Contact and the forthcoming book They Are Already Here. She covers the technology, science, and culture of space.
Contributor
Twitter
Topics UFOs Military Air Force Festivals