Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, has announced its plans to expand the Epic Games Store to iOS platforms in Europe.
The company confirmed it has secured its Apple Developer account again on Friday, signalling a new phase in its relationship with Apple amidst ongoing legal disputes.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney acknowledged the move by Apple as a positive gesture amid the “cataclysmic antitrust battle” between the two companies.
“I’ll be the first to acknowledge a good faith move by Apple in granting Epic Games Sweden AB a developer account for operating Epic Games Store and Fortnite in Europe under the Digital Markets Act,” said Sweeney.
Apple recently had to make changes to adhere to the Digital Markets Act in Europe.
I'll be the first to acknowledge a good faith move by Apple amidst our cataclysmic antitrust battle, in granting Epic Games Sweden AB a developer account for operating Epic Games Store and Fortnite in Europe under the Digital Markets Act. https://t.co/ocOdMReXh1
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 16, 2024
Apple booted Fortnite from the App Store back 2020, after Epic Games launched its own direct payment system inside the game. That violated App Store rules and subsequently, Epic sued Apple over the move, calling it anti-competitive.
The conversation around this announcement also touched on the future of Fortnite on Apple’s platforms. When asked about the possibility of Fortnite returning to macOS and the Unreal Engine Fortnite (UEFN), Sweeney expressed confusion over Apple’s previous decision to remove Fortnite from Mac, noting that the game was never available on the Mac App Store and did not violate any of its rules.
“We never understood why Apple killed Fortnite for Mac. Fortnite was never on the Mac App Store and broke no Mac App Store rules,” Sweeney commented, hinting at a hope for reconciliation and a clearer explanation from Apple regarding its actions against Fortnite–while seemingly applying different standards to other platforms like Facebook and Roblox.
Fortnite is not only coming back to the iPhone in Europe, but the latter will also see an Epic Games Store on iOS. As for the rest of us, Fortnite doesn’t appear to be coming back to the iPhone anytime soon.
