After years of legal scraps against Apple, Epic Games just announced that Fortnite is now back on the App Store across the entire world. Previously, Fortnite‘s mobile availability was restricted to certain regions through certain methods, but it’s now available to anyone around the world with an iPhone or iPad – except Australia.
Epic pushes the battle royale back to mobile after global courts from Europe to Japan passed laws in their favor against both Apple and Google’s approach to restricting competition on their mobile app storefronts. For the team at Epic, they’ve now made enough of a point to warrant the return of Fortnite to the App Store, as the U.S. courts will “force it [Apple] to be transparent about how it charges its App Store fees.”
In their announcement post, Epic say they are “returning to the App Store now because we are confident that once Apple is forced to show its costs, governments around the world will not allow Apple junk fees to stand.” They also stress that the fight against Apple isn’t over, as they will “continue to challenge” the tech giant over their “anticompetitive” practices.
The only market that’s an exception to Fortnite‘s return is Australia, where Epic won its case against Apple and convinced the courts that Apple’s terms were wrong – but Apple continues them in the region anyway. As such, Fortnite will return to the Australian App Store when these required changes are put in place, which the courts are currently deciding on.
As it stands though, for most parts of the world, Fortnite is available right now on your iPhone and iPad! iPhones need to be the 11 model or newer, whilst iPad have a variety of requirements that can be read on the App Store listing. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said “the battle continues” when asked if this is a permanent return or if Fortnite could leave again, so be sure to jump in sooner rather than later if you’re interested.
If you’ve been missing out on Fortnite, there’s a lot to catch up on. A new collaboration with Overwatch is currently taking over the island, as the season ramps up towards its conclusion early next month.
