Epic Games’s Fortnite Returns To Smartphones After Four Years

Epic Games’ Fortnite has returned to mobiles for the first time in four years after the company launched its third-party app store on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android devices.

Epic portrayed the move as a significant win for regulators that have been pressuring Apple and Google to open up their smartphone ecosystems to greater competition.

But the company also noted that Apple and Google had introduced “intentionally poor-quality install experiences” for third-party app stores, requiring users to undergo multiple steps and to bypass “scare screens”.

“We are continuing to fight in courts and work with regulators around the globe to eliminate the anticompetitive terms that Apple and Google impose on developers and consumers,” the company said.

Third-party app store

Apple and Google banned Epic from their platforms in 2020 after the company stopped paying commission fees in a protest against developer terms.

The companies have been engaged in legal wrangling ever since.

Most recently, earlier this year Apple banned and then reinstated Epic’s EU developer account that it planned to use to launch the third-party iOS app store.

The Epic Games Store is only available to iOS users in the EU, where the Digital Markets Act (DMA) forces smartphone platforms to allow third-party app stores.

“The DMA required us to enable new capabilities for developers in the EU, and we have worked to make them as easy as possible for users while also trying to protect their privacy and security,” Apple said in a statement.

The store is available on Android worldwide.

Epic plans to charge developers a 12 percent commission to sell games on its store, compared to Apple’s roughly 30 percent.

But Apple also collects fees from all apps distributed through third-party app stores.

‘Tangible progress’

“The fight is far from over, but this is tangible progress for developers and consumers who can begin to benefit from competition and choice,” said Epic chief executive Tim Sweeney.

Last week Spotify said it would list its summer pricing discount for subscriptions inside its music-streaming app in the EU, saying it was able to do so after the European Commission fined Apple nearly $2 billion (£1.6bn) for blocking music apps from showing promotions in their apps, amongst other things.

Apple said last week it would allow developers in the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and the UK to use its contactless NFC technology to provide customers with in-store payments, hotel keys and rewards cards.

EU antitrust regulators said in July they had accepted the commitments from Apple to allow access to the technology to rivals, bringing an end to a four-year investigation.

Apple said developers would be required to accept new terms and fees to use the service, without disclosing details.