Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweets that Fortnite returning to Apple platforms in 2023
January 2, 2023 – Fortnite, one of the world’s most popular games, has been absent from Apple’s app store for several years due to a payment dispute between Apple and Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite.
The disagreement arose when Epic Games added its own payment system to the game, which prevented Apple from receiving a cut of the profits.
This led to a lawsuit, with the courts ultimately ruling in favor of Apple in nine out of ten counts. As a result, Fortnite has been unavailable on Apple platforms such as iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers.
While Fortnite is also a popular mobile game on Android devices, players using Apple products have been unable to access the game directly through the app store. However, they have been able to play Fortnite through third-party services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Recently, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney took to Twitter to announce that Fortnite will return to Apple platforms in 2023. In his tweet, Sweeney included a picture from the game featuring fireworks spelling out the year 2023.
While this announcement is certainly welcome news for Apple users, substantial details about the return of Fortnite to Apple platforms are still missing. It is not yet clear when the game will return or how payment will be handled.
In the meantime, Epic has been making some big changes, with the launch of Chapter 4 in the middle of last month. However, the game has faced some issues, including stuttering problems on last-generation consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also recently ruled that Fortnite has been using “dark patterns” to deceive players into making unwanted purchases, and has expressed concerns about the game’s handling of children’s privacy. As a result, the company was fined $500 million, with $245 million allocated to refunding players.
