Millions of Apple users in the EU may soon see the wildly popular Fortnite game return to iPhone, thanks to a sudden, quick turnaround in the past few hours—but only if they update to the latest software.
iOS 17.4 is here. And EU users might be delighted by the new development.
The iPhone update, iOS 17.4, arrived on Tuesday, March 5. It gave millions of users in the EU access to external application markets. One of the most anticipated was the one promised by the creators of Fortnite: the Epic Games Store.
However, Apple immediately canceled Apple’s App Store Developer Account, making such a new market impossible. Now a big turn has been made. Here’s the latest in the breathless saga.
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act came into force on Thursday, March 7, and brought with it certain requirements for companies like Apple, including opening up iPhone software to EU users to allow access to apps from third-party companies. This actually means that apps can be downloaded from sites that are not available in the Apple App Store. And while the law only affects the EU, you can bet that the governments of the US, UK and other countries are watching closely to see if they should pass similar laws.
One relevant app is Fortnite, a massively popular game that was removed from the App Store in August 2020 after Apple said Fortnite’s maker, Epic, violated App Store rules in an attempt to circumvent Apple’s fees.
Recently, Epic opened a new developer account through its Swedish subsidiary, but Apple rescinded this and a huge row broke out, with Apple associate Phil Schiller stepping into the breach. It was clear that Apple did not believe that Epic would comply with the new rules that apply to the EU’s external app markets.
It then looked like EU regulators were about to get involved, with Bloomberg reporting on Thursday, March 7: “A spokesperson for the EU Commission confirmed that it has asked Apple for further explanations regarding its handling of Epic’s game developer account under the DMA block.” “
Now, what you would normally expect is for the legal teams to work on their positions and come up with a resolution in a few months.
In fact, just hours later, Apple reactivated Epic’s developer account, with the developer posting on its website on March 8: “Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that it will reactivate our developer account. This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act quickly to enforce the Digital Markets Act and hold gatekeepers accountable. We’re on track to launch the Epic Games Store and bring Fortnite back to iOS in Europe. Forward!”
The speed of that change of direction seemed to surprise everyone. So is Apple backing down in the face of regulatory pressure? Not really. In a statement seen by 9to5Mac, Apple said, “After speaking with Epic, they have committed to following the rules, including our DMA rules. As a result, Epic Sweden AB has been granted permission to re-sign the developer agreement and has been accepted into the Apple Developer Program.”
The EU industry chief saw this as a victory for DMA, saying on Xu: “I am pleased to note that following our contacts, Apple has decided to withdraw its decision to exclude Epic. From day 2, #DMA is already showing very concrete results!”
Which leaves us in a situation where, as soon as Epic fixes its market, hundreds of millions of users in the EU will once again be able to download Fortnite on iPhone.