If you thought about ‘Fortnite’ this weekend from your iPhone, you will find a surprise. Today, the popular battle royale de Epic Games It is not available In none of the applications for iOS available in the European Union. The withdrawal occurs just after Epic tried to relaunch the game in the American App Store.
Epic herself has explained in her official X account that “Apple has blocked our Fortnite presentation, so we have not been able to publish it in the US App Store. UU. Not in the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. We regret to announce that Fortnite will not be available for any of the world until Apple unlocks it.”
“Fortnite” screen capture in Epic Store in iOS
Behind the scene. The problem has arisen after a chain of decisions. On May 9, EPIC publicly reported, a new version of ‘Fortnite’ was presented for Apple review, an essential step to return to the App Store. Days later, CEO Tim Sweeney said they had retired that first presentation and sent a new version on May 14, which included a global update with the aim of launching it simultaneously on all platforms.
Apple responds: there is no blockade, but conditions. An Apple spokesman told Bloomberg that the company has not blocked the game as such, but asked Epic Sweden (the European Epic Division) to send the app again without including the US store “so as not to affect Fortnite in other geographical areas.” Apple argues that it has not removed any already published version of ‘Fortnite’ in European alternative stores.
Epic does not accuse Apple of withdrawing ‘Fortnite’, but of preventing the sending of its global update. From Cupertino they ensure that the refusal is because this version also included the US store, and that it had to be presented separately. The result has been that the game cannot be downloaded in Europe, although it had been available for months thanks to European legislation and distribution by independent stores.
A conflict that does not end. This episode is only the last in a long legal battle between both companies. The confrontation began in 2020, when Epic integrated its own payments within ‘Fortnite’, challenging the rules of the App Store and giving rise to its expulsion. Since then, the conflict has gone through several judicial phases, with partial resolutions on different fronts.
At the end of April, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued a sentence that disassembles part of the Apple business model: she ordered to eliminate commissions on external payments, among other measures. The ruling, very critical of the strategy followed by the company in recent years, has been key for Epic Games to reactivate his attempt to return ‘Fortnite’ to the American App Store after almost five years of absence.
And now what? At the moment, it is not clear if Epic will decide to send a new exclusive version for Europe, which would allow to restore ‘Fortnite’ on the iPhone of the community block, or if Apple will finally accept its return in the US. Everything will depend on whether what Apple is fulfilled considers a technical requirement or if we are facing a new EPIC strategic pulse to press Apple publicly. What is confirmed is that, according to EPIC itself, ‘Fortnite’ cannot be played in iOS in any country.
Images | Epic Games
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