Fortnite is finally back on iOS, just over four years after Apple pulled it from the iOS App Store – but it’s only available in the EU. The game is launching today in both a new iPhone version of the Epic Games Store and via AltStore PAL, another third-party app store. The Epic Games Store is also launching today for Android users worldwide.

The launch follows a years-long legal battle between Epic and Apple, as well as regulatory changes brought about by the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which forced Apple to allow alternative app stores. Epic plans to eventually bring its games to Aptoide’s iOS store in the EU and the ONE Store on Android, and says In a blog post they say: “We look forward to bringing our games to other stores around the world.”

“We are really excited and grateful for the European DMA law,” said Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, in a briefing with reporters. “Fortnite is finally returning to iOS in Europe.”

This revived iOS version of Fortnite starts on time for the new Marvel season, giving EU players a potentially important reason to revive the game on Apple’s mobile platform. Sweeney said Epic sees “absolutely no problems in updating Fortnite simultaneously, worldwide.” In addition to Fortnite, European iPhone owners and global Android users can download Epic’s Rocket League dig and a new title, a mobile version of Fall Guysfrom the Epic Games Store.

Since Epic announced its plans for an iOS store, Apple has repeatedly slowed the process. In March, Apple closed an Epic developer account and labeled the company “proven to be untrustworthy,” possibly alluding to the fact that Epic knowingly violated Apple’s rules by Fortnite In-app payment system that led to its kick from iOS. Apple restored Epic’s account after a request from the European Commission, but later had problems with the Epic Games Store buttons.

While the mobile Epic Games Store currently has only three first-party games, the company is already in talks with outside mobile game developers. Epic is aiming to have a “curated” selection of third-party games on the mobile store in December, said Steve Allison, vice president and GM of Epic Games Store. The ability to self-publish (which is already possible on PC) is expected to be available in early 2025. Epic also plans to bring “everything” it offers on PC, such as its 88 percent revenue share for developers, free games for players, and the ability for developers to use their own payment platforms. Allison said the company is aiming for 100 million new mobile Epic Games Store installs by the end of the year, though that could be hampered by hurdles in Apple’s third-party install process.

To succeed, Epic needs to get developers to accept Apple’s fees for selling outside the App Store. If a developer wants to offer their app in a third-party store, they must pay Apple a “core technology fee” of €0.50 per year for each install after the first million. This fee applies to app installs in both third-party app stores. And the App Store, which can add up quickly if you have a successful app on the App Store and want to offer it through an external marketplace. “The effect of this is that any developer of a current, successful game will be dissuaded from offering their game on a store that competes with the iOS App Store,” Sweeney said.

Apple also announced more new fees last week. “We’d love to use the terminology of the walled garden, but these core technology fees and the new things that were introduced last week have made the wall a little higher, and maybe (Apple) has put some barbed wire on top,” Allison said.

For Epic, it is worth climbing this wall. According to court documents Fortnite on iOS made more than $700 million in the two years before Apple removed it from the store. While Fortnite will certainly have a much smaller audience in an EU-exclusive third-party store, Epic will receive 100 percent of the revenue from in-app purchases rather than paying Apple’s usual 30 percent app store share. Some of that revenue will go toward Apple’s fees, but Epic is big enough to absorb those. And if regulation, competitive pressure, or public opinion forces Apple to relax its byzantine rules on third-party app stores, Epic will be one of the biggest and first players in the space.

But so far, many third-party developers seem wary. Allison said Epic is in active discussions with “pretty much every single one” of the top 250 mobile developers. And while developers are “very excited” about the Epic Games Store on Android, “almost all of them” said they couldn’t get it to work on iOS.

Epic knows it has a long way to go. According to Sweeney, the company has already invested hundreds of millions in its battle with Apple. And Allison acknowledged that there is still a lot of friction for players and developers. “But our vision for the future is that we’re going to keep fighting,” Allison said. “We’re going to make progress. We’re confident that we’ll weed these things out over time. But we don’t know if it’s going to take two months or two years or longer, but we certainly hope it’s one of the shorter ones.”