Fortnite is finally back on iOS and Android — with a few caveats. The latest chapter in the four-year feud between Epic Games and Apple has led to the launch of Epic’s own mobile storefront to host its popular battle royale, an outcome that Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is both celebrating and criticizing on launch day.
Starting today, iOS users in Europe can download the new Epic Games Store mobile app, which is also available to Android users worldwide. That’s the result of a law called the Digital Markets Act that just came into effect in the European Union, which requires Apple to allow third-party storefronts on iPhone. In the U.S., where no such law exists, Apple’s Fortnite ban continues. Epic says it’s working to bring its new storefront to other territories soon, including the UK and Japan next year.
“The tide is turning and the mobile ecosystem is finally opening up to competition,” Sweeney said in a blog post announcing the change. “We are grateful to the European Commission for making it possible to launch the Epic Games Store and offer our games to iOS users in the European Union.”
But while Sweeney is celebrating the victory, Epic is also criticizing how Apple and Google are handling the rollout. In its messaging around the launch, Epic has painted the install process, particularly on iOS, as deliberately confusing. You can install the new app store by heading to the Epic Games Store website, downloading a file, and installing it. Depending on your phone’s current permissions, you may need to change a few settings to allow the download and installation, complete with multiple warnings about installing third-party software.
Apple’s implementation of Digital Market Act rules is also making things difficult for developers. Earlier this year, the company announced a new 50-cent fee on developers for every install of their apps after the first million. In June, Apple was charged with breaking a DMA provision that allows developers to link to purchases not on the official app store. Last week, Apple updated its rules to make the practice easier in response, but at the same time introduced a new fee for any developer that includes links away from the app store, regardless of whether users actually use the option.
Sweeney has decried Apple’s recently added fees, saying they’re dissuading developers from using third-party storefronts.
“Of the top 250 developers we've been targeting to bring their apps to the Epic Game Store, everybody's excited about coming to our store on Android because there's no imposition of 'junk fees' just for the purpose of going to a competing store,” Sweeney said, according to Eurogamer.
Epic says it’s planning to bring more games to its new storefront, but for now, only three games are available. In addition to Fortnite, the mobile Epic Games Store launches with Rocket League Sideswipe and Fall Guys, which is now available on mobile platforms for the first time.
Even that limited library may be enough to make this a major victory for Epic. The publisher made more than $700 million on the iOS version of Fortnite before intentionally breaking Apple’s terms of service by bypassing the iOS storefront for in-app purchases and kicking off the years-long legal battle between the two companies. Now that Epic Games has its own operational third-party app store, it will no longer be forced to give Apple a 30 percent cut of purchases, but the fact that the storefront is only available in the EU puts on a hard limit on how profitable it’s likely to be. If regulations force Apple to allow third-party app store’s outside of the EU, though, Epic could be in a position to make much more from Fortnite on iOS than it ever has before.
Despite this major win for Epic, its battle with Apple rages on.
“The fight is far from over,” Sweeney said. “But this is tangible progress for developers and consumers who can begin to benefit from competition and choice.”
