Fortnite coming to iPhones in the EU via AltStore
Even with the Epic Games Store set to launch in the EU on iPhone, Epic has announced its games will be coming to other alternative app stores that "give developers a great deal," like AltStore PAL.
Fortnite is coming to the AltStore in the EU
The battle of Apple versus Epic may never end, with the latest chapter unfolding around EU regulations like the Digital Markets Act. Now that third-party stores and sideloading exist for EU iPhone users, Epic has an avenue to bring Fortnite back to the platform.
Plans are already underway to bring the Epic Games Store to iOS and Android devices later in 2024, but that's not the only destination for Fortnite on iPhone. Epic has also announced that it will distribute its games on third-party app stores.
The short blog post detailed that Epic will end distribution partnerships with mobile stores that serve as "rent collectors" in favor of stores that give developers a "great deal." This means leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store in favor of stores like the AltStore PAL.
AltStore is the distributor for Delta, the Nintendo emulator that helped pioneer allowing emulators on iPhone in and out of the EU.
No timelines were announced, but the return of Fortnite to iPhone has been long coming. Tim Sweeney promised a release in 2023, but it is now expected by the end of 2024.
Fortnite's return comes after years of legal battles between Apple and Epic in the United States. Despite Apple winning that battle on almost every front, Epic is finally able to skirt Apple's in-app purchase system entirely in the EU.
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>Google’s dealings with app developers played a prominent role during the trial. In particular, Epic repeatedly pointed to an initiative called “Project Hug” where the company paid major game developers like Activision and Nintendo millions of dollars in incentives to keep their wares in the Play store and persuade them not to create their own rival stores. The stakes were high. Activision alone was reportedly offered $350m. Epic was offered $147m to keep Fortnite on Google Play. Google documents reportedly referred to Epic in this case as a worrisome “contagon” that could cause other developers to defect.
“None of those circumstances, as I understand it, exists in the Apple case,” said Katherine Van Dyck, senior legal council for the American Economic Liberties Project. “In the Apple case, it’s simply that Apple only has one App Store and won’t allow any others.”<
This is much like the letter from Jobs that killed Flash.
The troublemakers.
They have no respect for status quo.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.Because they change things.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Think Different! I would hire him.
Jobs killed Flash but hired the guy behind it (Kevin Lynch) which then delivered Apple Watch and is now VP of Technology at Apple. This is how you as a CEO combine your principles with business. I would rather have him than a penny-pinching bean counter. Make him responsible for gaming at Apple.
Epic stonewalled their parent's attempts at getting refunds, going so far as killing their kids Fortnite accounts if they did charge backs.
In the FTC's evidence, Epic's internal communications showed that they deliberately implemented these dark patterns specifically for this result. They planned it that way all along, and even optimised it to happen more often.
This is a company which people need to be wary of, not celebrated.
What you should be doing is downloading Fortnite once per year as an ongoing punishment for their reprehensible exploitation of children and soiling the good will of game developers.
That $1 CTF charge, one per user, every year. Give them the monkey paw treatment for their boundless greed.