It took a little longer: after several announcements the gaming company Epic Games has now officially announced that it will open its own “alternative app marketplace” (AAM) for the iPhone. The company said over the weekend that a corresponding application had been submitted to Apple Short Message Service on X. Under the heading “Status update for our mobile plans” it says: “Done: Epic Games Store and ‘Fortnite’ submitted to Apple to go through required notarization process.”
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A first step
The next step is to launch the offer. “We are targeting the next few months for the Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU,” Epic Games added. They also plan to “bring our games to other mobile app stores.” Epic Games did not specify what exactly these should be – the selection under iOS is still very limited. But they want to “talk to all the stores that have the best conditions for all developers.” This obviously does not mean Apple, with whom the company has been arguing in court for years.
It was not immediately clear from Epic’s announcement whether “Fortnite” would also be distributed as a single download via sideloading. However, since both the Epic Games Store and “Fortnite” are owned by Apple, this is quite possible. Apple has set very high barriers to sideloading, which should really be overcome by a large app like Epic Games. However, the problem remains that “Fortnite” has not been available on the iPhone for years and the corresponding sales were not made directly, as Apple actually claims. Apparently Epic is also hoping for support from the EU, which has already announced that it will take action against Apple’s implementation of the requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Dispute over developer account
It is unclear why it took Epic Games a comparatively long time to hand over its AAM and “Fortnite” to Apple. However, the company has had trouble with Apple developer approval. In the spring, Apple briefly blocked the company’s access to Sweden, the branch that Epic Games wants to use for its EU offering on iPhone. The reason is that Epic Games is not trusted to follow the guidelines. However, Apple later gave in again – even after negative reporting – and gave the company back the developer account.
The dispute between Epic and Apple has been going on since 2020. At that time, Epic Games stopped selling its apps on Apple platforms and lawsuits were launched against Apple, including counterclaims. While Epic Games tried to implement its own in-app payment methods, Apple saw a violation of its developer guidelines. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, known as an Apple critic, had pushed for the DMA to be introduced, That “Fortnite” is now returning to the iPhone Can.
(B.Sc.)
