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Today, Apple officially announced it will be making some changes to iOS for the members of the European Union. In order to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, Apple will allow for both the sideloading of apps on iOS and third-party app stores starting in March 2024.
iOS developers have been waiting for Apple to officially announce this decision, including Epic Games, which has been in legal fights with Apple for years. Today, Epic Games announced in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) account that not only will its hit game Fortnite be returning to iOS devices in the EU sometime in 2024, but it will do so as part of a new Epic Games Store on Apple’s mobile OS. It will be the first time Fortnite will be playable on iOS since it was removed from the App Store in 2020.
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
There is not much more info on those plans in the message, but Epic did state it will still need to “figure out the regulatory timeline.” It added, “We’ll continue to argue to the courts and regulators that Apple is breaking the law.”
That’s likely a reference to Epic stating earlier in January it plans to take Apple to court again, this time over the company’s announcement that while it will allow links to third-party payment systems in apps, it still expects developers to send 27 percent of payments made in those stores back to Apple. Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, stated such a policy ” kills price competition.” Speaking of Sweeney.
Speaking of Sweeney, he posted his own response to Apple’s new European iOS plans on X today. He said that the new rules are “a devious new instance of Malicious Compliance.” He added:
They are forcing developers to choose between App Store exclusivity and the store terms, which will be illegal under DMA, or accept a new also-illegal anticompetitive scheme rife with new Junk Fees on downloads and new Apple taxes on payments they don’t process.
The new rules on iOS in Europe could also lead Microsoft to launch its promised mobile game app store on Apple devices as well. So far, Microsoft has yet to comment today on Apple’s new iOS app changes.
