STOCKHOLM –
Multiplayer shooter game Fortnite is available again on iPhones in the European Union and worldwide on Google’s Android devices after a gap of four years, following legal measures by the EU, developer Epic Games said on Friday.
Fortnite, created by Epic, a U.S.-based studio, and backed by China’s Tencent, the world’s largest game studio, launched in 2017 and its last-player-standing, “battle royale” format became an instant hit, drawing in millions of dedicated players.
But in August 2020, Apple and Alphabet’s Google removed Fortnite from their app stores for violating their guidelines by launching a payment feature, prompting several lawsuits challenging their rules of charging up to 30 per cent commissions on payments.
At the time of the ban, Epic had 116 million users just on Apple’s platform.
The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) law is allowing Epic to launch its game store in the bloc, though Apple is still blocking …