Epic announces Fortnite and Epic Games Store coming to iOS in the UK next year

Epic has announced that, following the passage of the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act, Fortnite will return to iOS devices in the UK at some point “late 2025”, at the same time as launching the Epic Games Store on the platform.

new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Law The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Initially blocked Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard – New powers to prevent tech giants from using their position to harm competitors and consumers.

according to Government announcementThe Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act could “give consumers more freedom to choose the services they use and stop companies from concealing information they need to make good decisions”, and give the CMA the power to “intervene and direct companies to change their behaviour to promote competition, whether or not it benefits people who use smartphones or businesses that rely on cloud services”.

The law is reminiscent of the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which requires big tech companies to open up their mobile platforms to app stores owned and operated by other companies. EU law played a key role in Epic’s return to iOS after Apple revoked its Fortnite developer account in 2020 and blocked the game from being distributed on Apple devices.

Following Apple’s decision – Apple’s actions after Epic Deliberately avoided The Fortnite developer could have avoided Apple’s 30% platform fee by incorporating the contractually required App Store payment mechanism within the Fortnite iOS app, but the two parties are locked in a legal battle in the United States and have so far not been able to settle. The ruling was in favor of Apple.

However, Epic was quick to take advantage of the EU’s digital market law. Announced earlier this year The company plans to launch an EU version of the Epic Games Store for iOS in 2024 and bring Fortnite back to the platform, and has now announced similar plans for the UK following Royal Assent for the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act.

“We applaud the UK for passing new competition legislation,” FortniteX’s official account said. Posts“Epic Games Store and Fortnite coming to iOS in the UK late 2025”

But Epic’s announcement appears premature. Under the legislation, the CMA must first determine which of the “most powerful global technology companies” are deemed to have a “strategic market position”, and then decide how to intervene with each of these companies. The decision can be appealed by the affected companies. But the UK government has Previously proposed Companies with Strategic Market Status may be required to “enable users to access other app stores,” and Epic will no doubt be hoping that this provision will be applied by Apple to allow it to move forward with its iOS store plans.

Today’s announcement is presumably intended to excite Epic’s younger Fortnite fans with a pre-emptive strike if regulatory intervention fails, but time will tell if the “late 2025” deadline in the UK can be met.