Attribution: Photo by Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com on Unsplash
On X (previously Twitter), Fortnite posted: “Remember Fortnite on iOS? How bout we bring that back.” At the end of the tweet it wrote: “Apple, the world is watching.”
So, this was the tweet. Finally, Fortnite is set to return to iPhones in the EU in 2024 four years later.
I have to tell you a little background story of why Fortnite was not on the IOS store for four years. There has been a feud between Apple and Epic Games, the developer behind popular games like Fortnite, Infinity Blade, Robo Recall, and Fortnite Battle Royale. This conflict remains ongoing. The conflict was initiated when Apple’s app store imposed a significant 30% fee on developers.
The tech trillionaire company makes it mandatory for all apps to be available exclusively through their platform for download onto Apple devices.
As it was happening, Epic Games took a stand against Apple. To make it even more intensified, Epic introduced its own payment system to compensate for the loss due to the 30% cut by Apple. Ultimately, it made Apple remove the game from the store as it broke the terms between Apple and Epic Games.
Afterward, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple. As a result, Fortnite was permanently removed from the App Store.
However, the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act makes it possible for Fortnite to come back on the IOS platform in the EU after four years of nonexistence in the IOS platform.
This act requires Apple, the tech giant, to permit the sideloading. This means that Apple is now obligated to permit the installation of apps from sources other than its own App Store.
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