A few years ago, the Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeneylaunched a long campaign against Manzana and its policies on app store. The opposition immediately turned into a legal battle against Apple and led to the withdrawal of Fortnite App Store for violating the rules of the platform.
Fortnite, one of the most popular battle royale in the world and also Apple’s best-selling game three years ago, is no longer available on Apple devices. At least, not through the App Store. After so many years of legal battles, it seems that the game returns to the iOS devices. We start the year 2023 with good news, in that sense.
The great change caused by the legislation of the European Union
Tim Sweeney decided to celebrate the new year with a curious Tweet in which he said “Next year on iOS!”. The post was followed by an image of a Fortnite character looking up at the fireworks that spell out 2023. Have Apple and Epic Games finally reached an agreement? Have they changed their mind? Neither of the two options, presumably.
There are rumors that point to a new function that will arrive with iOS 17. Apparently, Apple will allow users to sideload apps on iOS. What’s more, it could even open alternative app stores. This is not something that comes out of Apple’s free will. The company will have to comply with the new DMA law, the acronym for Digital Markets Actin Europe.

Considering the law and the rumored new feature, Epic Games could bring Fortnite back to iOS devices. The only “but” is that Fortnite will not be available on the App Store. If Apple does allow third-party app stores with iOS 17, Epic Games could take advantage of this to bring the game back to the platform. We would not rule out the arrival of some kind of launcher to install the game.
This was the legal battle between Epic Games and the Apple Store
Fortnite was pulled from the App Store in August 2022. Epic Games was not happy with Apple’s in-app purchase system and profit margins. The company created a direct in-game payment option, breaking App Store rules in the process. Apple pulled the app and blamed Epic for violating its rules. Epic Games did not accept this and filed a lawsuit against Apple in an attempt to force the company to change its policies.
The court’s decision in September 2021 would force Apple to allow developers to add in-app links to external websites. As a result, you would not need to use Apple’s in-app purchases all the time. But both Apple and Epic have appealed the decision. Epic goes against Apple’s control of iOS, saying that alternative app stores should be allowed on the iPhone. Apple, for its part, says that iOS is one of the most secure mobile operating systems thanks to that exclusivity.