Fortnite Returns to iPhone in Europe and Android Worldwide After Four-Year Hiatus

Epic Games, the US company, announced on the 16th that its popular game “Fortnite” has become available on Apple’s iPhone in Europe and globally on Google’s Android devices for the first time in four years. (2024 Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

[Stockholm, 16th Reuters] – Epic Games, the US company, announced on the 16th that its popular game “Fortnite” has become available on Apple’s iPhone in Europe and globally on Google’s Android devices for the first time in four years.

Released in 2017, Fortnite quickly became popular, but Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Google removed it from their app stores in August 2020, stating that its payment features violated guidelines. At that point, Epic had 116 million users solely on Apple’s platform.

Following the enactment of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Epic was able to launch on the app store in Europe. Apple continues to restrict it outside the EU.

Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, expressed gratitude to the European Commission for curbing competitive interference from Apple and Google.

Epic’s PC store has 75 million monthly active users, and it expects to gain another 100 million mobile users by the end of the year. Games can also be purchased from independent mobile stores like AltStore.

However, installing on Apple’s iOS requires 15 processes, making it time-consuming.

CEO Sweeney stated that not being able to serve iOS customers worldwide for four years has likely resulted in “over a billion dollars in lost revenue.”

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Supantha leads the European Technology and Telecoms coverage, with a special focus on emerging technologies such as AI and 5G. He has been a journalist for about 18 years. He joined Reuters in 2006 and has covered a variety of beats ranging from financial sector to technology. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.