Epic Games Reconciles With Apple? Tim Sweeney Suggests Big Comeback
After the grueling court affair between Epic Games and Apple, the two sides have not been particularly solicitous. Out of nowhere, however, Tim Sweeney seems to have restored hopes for the return of Fortnite on iOS.
2020 was all about the removal of Fortnite from the App Store, as well as a long court battle between Epic Games (the game's creators) and Apple (the store's owner). Today, we know that both companies have failed to secure any gains in this war. Unexpectedly, however, the latest announcement from the CEO of Epic Games raises hopes for the return of Fortnite to the App Store offering.
After the dust has settled
The message can be found on Twitter. In celebration of New Year's Eve, Tim Sweeney made a one-sentence reference to Apple's store, promising that "something" might be coming to iOS this year. The next day, the CEO of Epic Games pinned a screenshot from Fortnite in a response in the thread. Internet users then began to speculate as to whether the company had come to an agreement with Apple to restore the removed game to the App Store.
Recall that the two companies have had some clashes between them in the past. In 2018 Epic Games released Fortnite on iOS, but two years later the title was removed from the App Store. The reason for this decision was violation of the store's regulations by the game's developers - Epic introduced a direct microtransaction model into its game, which bypassed the App Store's payment system.
Tim Sweeney, in his defense accused Apple of charging a 30 percent markup (for comparison: Epic Games Store applies only a 12% rate), which he said was unfair and anti-competitive. Final verdict was unfavorable for both companies: Epic had to pay Apple nearly $3 million in damages, and the Cupertino-based conglomerate - following the court's verdict - to allow developers to use microtransactions bypassing App Store's payment system. Time will tell if the companies actually reached an agreement, thanks to which later this year we will once again play Fortnite on iOS.