Fortnite and Epic Games Store submitted for iOS launch in EU
According to the official Epic Games-X account, the gaming giant has submitted the Epic Games Store to Apple for notarization. This complies with Apple’s guidelines for alternative app marketplaces in the European Union. The Epic Games Store naturally includes the popular game Fortnite. This means that iPhone users in the EU will be able to install and play the title after it has been released without a cloud gaming service. This should happen within “the next couple months for the store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU”. A version for the iPad is also due to follow this year.
Apple kicked Fortnite out of the iOS App Store in recent years due to the legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games. There was only a chance of a new attempt after Apple was forced by the EU’s Digital Markets Act to allow apps from alternative app marketplaces instead of the App Store and directly from developer websites for iPhones.
However, Apple charges a core technology fee of €0.50 per year for apps installed outside of the App Store. The same applies in the App Store for developers who choose both the new terms and continue to use the Apple system. However, there are no App Store commissions or in-app fees. Apple waives fees for the first one million installations. After that, a fee of €0.50 per user is due, costing app developers a considerable amount of money. Especially given the fact that Epic is often charged twice. Once for its app marketplace and again for each installation of Fortnite.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has repeatedly criticized Apple’s App Store changes to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) guidelines. He calls the current changes a “devious new instance of malicious compliance,” and Apple’s fees “junk fees.”
The European Commission officially announced its preliminary view last week that Apple’s App Store policies violate the DMA. The Commission also announced that it would open new proceedings against Apple for non-compliance with the DMA. They are citing concerns that the contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app marketplaces, including the Core Technology Fee, “fall short of ensuring effective compliance with Apple’s obligations under the DMA.”
