Epic says Fortnite is returning to iOS...in the EU

If you love playing Fortnite on your iPhone, we have good news and bad news. Thanks to Apple's announcement today that it will allow iPhone users in the EU to download apps from third-party app stores, Epic Games made an Epic announcement on "X." The Epic Games Newsroom account said in a tweet, "Fortnite will return to iOS in Europe in 2024, distributed by the upcoming @EpicGames Store for iOS."

Since the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) has forced Apple to allow sideloading and third-party app stores for the iPhone in the EU, Apple cannot continue to block Fortnite from iOS in the 27 EU member countries. Fortnite and Epic were kicked out of the App Store in August 2020 after Epic included a link to its own in-app payment platform inside Fortnite and offered items such as in-app currency at a lower price since it evaded Apple's 30% tax on purchases made through its own platform.

That led to, and please bear with me, an Epic lawsuit; because the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant Apple a writ of certiorari and won't hear the case, Apple must follow the ruling of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and allow developers to redirect to third-party in-app payment platforms. But to do so, the developer must also link his/her app to Apple's in-app payment platform. And even if a developer gets one of his customers to use an alternative payment processing platform, Apple will still get a 27% cut of the revenue in the U.S.

However, an iPhone user in one of the 27 EU member countries will eventually be able to visit the Epic Games Store and install Fortnite. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney isn't calling it a day after getting Fortnite back on the iPhone in Europe. Talking about the U.S. App Store, the executive said today, "We'll continue to argue to the courts and regulators that Apple is breaking the law."