“An island with two mountains and the deep, wide sea” – the Lummerland from the Jim Knopf book series has some similarities to the location of the Mobile Online Battle Arena (MOBA) from Fortnite. The popular game disappeared from Apple’s app stores in August 2020 – after a deliberate provocation on the part of developer Epic Games. Six and a half years and many legal proceedings later, the app is now returning to Apple’s software marketplaces worldwide and is celebrating this with a victorious press release. “Apple is aware that the US federal court requires it to be transparent regarding changes in App Store fees,” Epic Games said. “Fortnite is now returning to the App Store as we are confident that following disclosure, government authorities will no longer allow Apple to charge additional hidden fees.” We continue to fight against anti-competitive practices on the part of Apple. Epic gives two specific examples: preventing alternative app marketplaces and preventing competition in payment processes.
More and more exceptions
In the EU, Japan and Brazil, Apple already has to give up its App Store monopoly on iPhones and iPads. Antitrust decisions also required Apple in these and other countries to give app developers easier access to alternative payment methods for subscriptions and digital content. Fortnite remains unavailable in a western country, explains Epic: In Australia they won a court case against the iPhone manufacturer, but Apple is sticking to “illegal developer conditions”. Further legal proceedings are ongoing here.
EU: Three ways to Fortnite
iPhone and iPad users are now spoiled for choice as to how they want to install the game on their device: you can download it from the Apple App Store, the independent AltStore or the Epic Games Store (iOS). The game is free, but offers various in-app purchases quite intrusively. After downloading the almost 3 GB game, players should stay on the WLAN for the first start; Depending on the device, up to five GB of additional data are downloaded – plus further downloads for the individual game modes.
On the iPad, Fortnite downloads an additional 5 GB of data when you first start it.
Chronology Apple vs Epic (Abstract)
