Fortnite is Coming Back to iOS in the EU via Upcoming Epic Games Store

Epic Games announced yesterday that it will bring back Fortnite to iOS this year, but only in EU markets. The popular battle royale game will be distributed via the upcoming Epic Games Store for iOS, which will be allowed on the platform once the Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into effect on March 6, 2024.

Yesterday, Apple detailed all the changes that are coming to iOS, the App Store, and Safari in Europe in March with the release of iOS 17.4. One of the biggest changes is that Apple will allow alternative app stores on iOS in the EU, but as often is the case with the company, the devil is in the details.

First of all, companies interested in launching alternative app marketplaces on iOS will need to use a new framework and APIs provided by Apple. Moreover, as 9to5Mac discovered yesterday, Apple mentioned in a document for developers that companies looking to launch an alternative app store will need to “provide Apple a stand-by letter of credit from an A-rated (or equivalent by S&P, Fitch, or Moody’s) financial Institution of €1,000,000 prior to receiving the entitlement.”

Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games pointed this out as a huge barrier for any company willing to launch an alternative app store on iOS. The exec went as far as suggesting that this $1M “letter of credit” could be illegal.

“Under what possible theory of antitrust regulation is it acceptable for a monopoly to decide what companies are allowed to compete with it, and on what terms they can compete? Apple makes a mockery of free market competition,” Sweeney posted on X yesterday

Under what possible theory of antitrust regulation is it acceptable for a monopoly to decide what companies are allowed to compete with it, and on what terms they can compete? Apple makes a mockery of free market competition. https://t.co/BPEdXQ2htt

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 26, 2024

While Apple won’t take a cut on transactions happening on third-party iOS app stores in the EU, the company is still going to require developers to pay a €0.50 “core technology fee” for each first annual install per year over a 1 million threshold. Unity previously received huge backlash after introducing a similar runtime fee based on game installs, but the company later backtracked and its CEO John Riticiello left the company.

While Epic Games is the first company to officially announce that it will release an alternative app store for iOS users in the EU, Microsoft has also previously expressed its interest in launching an Xbox mobile store on iOS and Android. Activision Blizzard’s large collection of mobile games (Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, Diablo Immortal, etc.) is one of the things that pushed Microsoft to acquire the company for $68 billion.

However, it turns out that the EU version of iOS won’t be completely open to competition after all. Tim Sweeney summarized Apple’s Digital Markets Act announcements as “a devious new instance of malicious compliance,” and it will be interesting to see if other companies also start to voice their concerns regarding alternative app stores on iOS.