Following a change in European Union regulations, Apple is preparing to open up its storefront to other options that iPhone and iPad users can download to their phones. With this change, there’s a decent chance that Fortnite could find its way back to iOS devices, giving Apple users a chance to steal a seat on the Battle Bus and jump back onto the island.
The announcement was shared by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who posted these preparations. Fortnite was removed from the Apple application store in August 2020 when Epic Games, the development team behind Fortnite, made it so players had an alternative means of purchasing its premium currency, V-bucks. This bypassed Apple’s internal payment system and was shortly followed by a lawsuit when Apple removed Fortnite from its store.
Epic Games’ primary concern had to do with Apple not allowing for an alternative way for players to make in-game purchases outside of their App store, which gave Apple a 30% revenue cut from every purchase.
The changes shared by Gurman detail the Apple store will bring alternative app stores to work alongside Apple’s App Store. Currently, the new laws will pertain exclusively to Europe, and other countries would have to go through with them. On top of that, they won’t go into place until 2024. If Fortnite does have a chance to return to Apple’s Store, it won’t happen for some time, and even then, it would only be for countries in the EU. We don’t know how this could affect other countries outside of these requirements or how widespread Apple would make these sweeping changes.
Right now, it’s looking only like a possibility. If Apple’s previous policy does have to go through these changes change, Epic Games might have a good reason to return to the App Store for iOS players.
