Video game company Epic Games announced on Thursday that its popular game Fortnite will soon return to Apple’s iOS systems in the European Union, following a lengthy legal battle with the iPhone maker.
Epic Games is trying to expand the distribution of its games to areas outside of the official app stores of smartphone manufacturers. The company is fighting against high commissions on in-app payments and the fact that users can only download apps through special stores.
The company also said its video games will be removed from the Samsung Galaxy Store in protest of the phone maker’s decision to block side-loading (installing applications on a mobile device without using a dedicated app store) on Android devices by default, which the company called “anti-competitive.”
Along the same lines, Epic said its mobile games will come to AltStore on iOS in the EU. AltStore is a third-party store that allows side-loading.
Epic will also announce “support” for at least two other third-party stores, the company said.
The company’s marketplace, the Epic Games Store, is also coming to Android globally and iOS in the European Union. It did not specify a timeline for that.
Apple had previously approved Epic Games’ marketplace app on iPhones and iPads in Europe in July, after Epic stoked a spat with the tech giant.
The iPhone maker is also facing tough antitrust scrutiny over its App Store practices, with European competition authorities finding in June that the app violated rules under the Digital Markets Act.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
