There was once a time when iPhone and iPad owners could download the popular Fortnite battle royale game from the App Store. But after Apple claimed that the game had violated the App Store’s terms and conditions, the game was pulled from it, resulting in one of the most closely watched and drug-out lawsuits ever between Fortnite creator Epic Games and Apple.
Since then, Apple has been smacked down by the European Union for anti-competitive practices and is now being sued by the United States government for similar issues. Apple responded to the European Union’s new regulations by allowing third-party App Stores such as AltStore PAL to exist in those regions, and as you might have expected, Epic Games plans to take full advantage of this.
In a blog post shared to X (formerly Twitter) by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, we learn that the company plans to launch Fortnite mobile for the iPhone and iPad once more, however this time it will be done by circumventing the App Store and using third-party App Stores such as AltStore PAL and Epic Games’ upcoming Epic Games Store for mobile.
We are fast approaching a quantum leap in Epic’s efforts to bring our games to players on mobile devices. Fortnite will be returning to iOS in the European Union soon, and the Epic Games Store will be coming to Android worldwide and iOS in the European Union bringing all developers great terms: a store fee of 12% for payments we process, and 0% on third party payments.
But that’s not all! Today, we’re announcing that Epic also plans to bring our own mobile games including Fortnite to other mobile stores that give all developers a great deal. And, we will be ending distribution partnerships with mobile stores that serve as rent collectors without competing robustly and serving all developers fairly, even if those stores offer us a special deal for our own games.
Here’s why we’re doing this: We’ve long been advocating for the rights of stores to exist and compete fairly on iOS and Android, and progress is spreading across the globe, in the form of Europe’s DMA, similar laws in the UK and Japan, regulatory investigations around the world, and victory in the Epic v Google litigation in the US. As operators of the Epic Games Store, we’ll take advantage of this opportunity to bring all developers a great deal on our store. And as game developers ourselves, we want to do everything we can to support other stores that strive to bring all developers their own great deals.
In exciting news, we are announcing that our mobile games will come to AltStore on iOS in the EU, and we expect to announce support for at least two other third-party stores soon.
Finally, in sad news, we are today announcing that Fortnite and our other games will be leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store in protest of Samsung’s anticompetitive decision to block side-loading by default on Samsung Android devices, and as a result of public revelations in the US Epic v Google lawsuit of ongoing Google proposals to Samsung to restrain competition in the market for Android app distribution.
The AltStore team reposted this post, adding that Fortnite was indeed coming to AltStore PAL, however that details are “coming soon.”
Just yesterday, AltStore PAL announced version 2.1 of the app with support for “Recommended Sources,” which allowed for users to install third-party apps from trusted sources. We’d imagine that Epic Games’ Fortnite mobile game could be offered through a similar trusted source, and that it could then avoid posting to the App Store entirely.
In a follow-up post, Sweeney said that Fortnite and Epic Games’ other mobile games would be leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store to protest the brand’s anti-sideloading policy. An interesting choice by Samsung, considering everything that competing brand Apple has been through thus far…
It’s worth noting that AltStore PAL isn’t available to United States folks, but is available in other parts of the world, including the European Union. This underscores exactly who will benefit most from today’s announcement.
Are you excited to learn that Fortnite will be coming to AltStore PAL? Let us know in the comments section down below.