Fortnite was pulled down from the Apple App Store in 2020 when its creator Epic Games introduced a third-party payments system for in-app purchases. Since then, the game has not been available for download on iPhones and iPads. However, Apple has now been forced to open its gates to third-party app stores by the new EU regulations.
Fortnite has now confirmed that it will soon return to iOS in the EU region. The company will set up a new Epic Games Store to distribute Fortnite. Epic says that the game will be available on iOS in 2024.
Fortnite will return to iOS in Europe in 2024, distributed by the upcoming @EpicGames Store for iOS. Stay tuned for details as we figure out the regulatory timeline. We'll continue to argue to the courts and regulators that Apple is breaking the law. https://t.co/MHh6EGVinC
— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) January 25, 2024
The new EU regulations require Apple to offer third-party app distribution sources on iOS, along with external payment options. Epic Games has been fighting a long legal battle against Apple over these two reasons. While the new regulatory changes are in favour of Epic and other app developers, these are limited to the EU region only.
Fortnite will not be making a global comeback on the official App Store. Hence, users outside of the EU region will not be able to download and play the game on their iPhones. Epic Games has also not commented on the global availability of the game.
It is worth noting that Fortnite will only return to iOS in the EU, making it available on iPhones. However, the game will not be available on iPads as Apple will not allow third-party app sideloading on its tablets. This is because the iPad runs on iPadOS, which is categorized differently than iOS on iPhones. Apple is only required to bring app sideloading on iOS, and not on iPadOS.
Fortnite is also not available on the Google Play Store. However, the open-source nature of the Android operating system allows Epic Games to distribute the game via its own Epic Games Store, and even the Galaxy App Store on Samsung devices. The company is now trying to implement the same on iPhones, although limited in the EU region.
