Fortnite, the immensely popular battle royale game by Epic Games, is finally returning to iOS platforms, but with a catch – it's only available in Europe.
The game's surprising return to Apple's proprietary operating system and/or platform comes nearly four years after the tech giant removed it from the App Store for circumventing Apple's payment methods.
Despite the still-ongoing tussle between Epic Games and Apple, the latter had no choice but to facilitate the necessary changes to pave the way for Fortnite's return as a response to the European Union's new Digital Markets Act. It aims to regulate the major tech companies, promoting fair competition. Consequently, Apple has been compelled to allow apps to be installed from sources other than its App Store, a practice commonly known as sideloading. This shift in Apple's policy is a departure from its long-standing resistance to allow sideloading, often citing security and privacy concerns.
Epic Games, seizing this opportunity, announced plans to launch the Epic Games Store on iPhone within the European Union, bringing Fortnite back to the platform as part of this rollout. Tim Sweeney, Epic's CEO, continues to be vocal with his criticism of Apple's policies, particularly referring to the company's implementation of DMA compliance as, simply put, "hot garbage." However, despite the ongoing legal and regulatory battles, Epic is gearing up to relaunch Fortnite on iOS.
