Fortnite is coming back to iOS in the UK, in 2025
Not exactly as soon as many would like
- Fortnite is coming back to iOS in the UK
- Thanks to changes in competition laws, the game should be available in the latter half of 2025
- Tim Sweeney has duked it out hard with Apple
Fortnite, the top battle royale from Epic Games, is set to make it back to iOS, in the UK, in 2025. Yeah, not exactly massive, but still big news. After all Tim Sweeney and Apple have been duking it out for what feels like close to a decade now, but slowly changing laws in the EU and UK have led to a gradual return of Fortnite to iPhone.
As for what this means for the average UK player? Well, it means you can access Fortnite at some point in the second half of 2025 without needing to use workarounds or other tactics. And while this is a while to wait it does yet again signal the changing tides against companies like Apple and Google.
Did Epic change things?
The big question for us is, of course, did Epic Games throw down the gauntlet to Apple way back in 2020? This was when Epic snuck in the ability to purchase V-bucks (the in-game currency) directly from them, rather than through Apple or Google.
Long story short, what followed was a slanging match of truly titanic proportions. With Epic Games, and boss Tim Sweeney in particular, all but martyring themselves in truly dramatic fashion. Yet despite the oftentimes melodramatic proclamations from Epic around the case (as with their parody of Apple's famous 1984 ad), it did begin to raise questions about just how justified Apple's 30% levy on in-app purchases was.
We aren't about to call Sweeney the undisputed hero of mobile. But undoubtedly there was renewed public interest and scrutiny from legislators in the aftermath. This leads us to where we are now, as Fortnite creeps back onto mobile storefronts via either a third party, their own upcoming mobile store or, as in this case, thanks to domestic legislation.
Winner, winner, eh?
