It has been four years since Fortniteone of the world’s most popular games, was removed from the Apple App Store amid controversy and finger-pointing. Today, it returns to the iPhone – but only in the European Union.
The Epic Games Store launches today for Android and iOS. Currently there are only three games: Fortnite, Rocket League digAnd Autumn Boys. And you must be in Europe to access it on your iPhone.
The Epic Games Store is operated by Epic Games, the same company that develops and publishes Fortnite. Most people who have followed either Epic or Apple over the past few years know the story by now, but here’s a quick summary and analysis.
Comment: Even after four years, users are the losers
At the direction of CEO Tim Sweeney, Epic deliberately made changes to Fortnite related to digital payments that violated Apple’s terms for developers on the platform. Apple removed Fortnite Accordingly, a long, ugly PR and legal battle ensued between the two companies in several countries and regions.
In the US, a court ruling gave Epic and other developers seeking to loosen Apple’s grip on the platform some small victories, but largely maintained the status quo.
Things went a little differently in Europe. EU lawmakers and regulators passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which had far-reaching effects on how Apple and Google operate their app stores. Among other things, the new law required Apple to allow alternative third-party app stores (essentially sideloading) on the iPhone.
Apple’s compliance has been less than enthusiastic (the company cited security and privacy concerns for users, which is perfectly valid, but the real issue is, of course, its assertive control over app revenues on its platforms), and it has been criticized for its attempts to put up barriers. In addition, Apple repeatedly rejected Epic’s attempts to open its App Store for a few obscure reasons, while Sweeney wrote a barrage of almost comically over-the-top tweets criticizing the company.
Despite Apple’s delaying tactics, Epic is finally at the point where it could launch its app store. Epic had already launched a relatively successful app store for PC, where Valve’s Steam has a firm grip on users. While the new iPhone app store doesn’t offer nearly as many options or benefits as the PC version, Epic says it’s working to attract developers to its store.
The company also states that it will publish its games in other alternative app stores for iOS and Android, such as AltStore PAL.
It’s been a long, winding, and tough road to get to this point. In the battle between Epic and Apple, there’s still some debate about who’s really won so far. But there’s no big argument that whether you want to blame Apple or Epic or both, users certainly haven’t been the winners.
