Image: Epic Games/AltStore
Epic Games will make the highly popular Fortnite and other titles available via AltStore PAL, the first app marketplace for iPhone to open in the European Union. The game developer is also continuing to work on its own iOS app marketplace because it’s banned from Apple’s own App Store.
So the days of playing Fortnite on iPhone will be back soon… but only for those who live in the right region.
Fortnite for iPhone for a fortunate few
Apple and Epic Games have been embroiled in legal fights for years. In 2020, Epic introduced a version of its popular Fortnite game that circumvented Apple’s requirement that the iPhone-maker receive 30% of in-app payments. The result was that Fortnite was booted from the App Store. Epic Games started a lawsuit that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it still isn’t allowed to put games in the official iPhone App Store.
Then the European Union instituted the Digital Markets Act. Among numerous other changes, this forced Apple to allow rival iOS app marketplaces. Developer Riley Testut jumped until action and created AppStore PAL, which began accepting third-party applications on Wednesday.
Epic Games used a blog post on Thursday to say, “We are announcing that our mobile games will come to AltStore on iOS in the EU.”
Testut told Cult of Mac that, “We’re very excited to be bringing Fortnite and more to AltStore PAL”
That won’t be the only option — Epic plans to support “at least two other third-party stores soon.” And, of course, the game developer is working on its own Epic Games Store for iOS.
Available soon
While Epic Games blog post promises, “Fortnite will be returning to iOS in the European Union soon,” there’s no more specific time window than that.
And simply so there’s no confusion, Apple only permits rival alternatives to the App Store because of the DMA in EU countries. No where else are iPhone users allowed to install applications outside of the official App Store.