Fortnite has returned to iPhone/iOS in Europe, and the same should happen in the UK
The Epic Games Store has come to iPhone/iOS in Europe, and the UK is next
The Fortnite has returned to iPhone and iOS, at least in the European Union. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), has forced Apple to allow competing storefronts on iOS, allowing Epic Games to bring their Epic Games Store to iPhone.
Epic Games has been battling Apple since 2020 to allow apps to be installed on iOS outside of Apple’s official app store. This was due to the excessive fees that Apple charged app providers, fees that often gave Apple higher profit margins than app creators themselves. Even now, many apps on the iOS app store need to pay mandatory 30% payment fees to Apple. That’s a huge level of compensation for very little effort from Apple. For context, the Epic Games Store on PC only takes a 12% cut from game sales.
Now, laws have changed and Apple has been forced to allow competing storefronts to be installed on iOS. In time, the same will likely happen to iPadOS. Thanks to these changes, the Epic Games Store is now available on iOS, allowing Fortnite to return to the platform. Sadly, this is only possible within the EU. In time, other regions may enact similar competition laws to the EU, but for now, Fortnite on iOS is an EU exclusive product.
Will Fortnite return to iPhone/iOS in the UK?
The UK passed their new 2024 Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Act into law in May. This law is broadly similar to the EU’s DMA laws. This will should allow Epic Games to, eventually, bring Fortnite back to iOS/iPhone in the UK. Currently, Epic Games’ CEO, Tim Sweeney, expects the game to come to iOS in the UK next year.
Unless Apple and Google manage to lobby the UK government that they should be able to continue blocking competition, we should be able to move on that by the end of next year,
You can join the discussion on Fortnite returning to iOS in Europe on the OC3D Forums.
