Epic Games says it has submitted the Epic Games Store to Apple for notarization under Apple’s alternative app marketplace policy in the European Union.
The Epic Games Store will include popular game Fortnite, which means iPhone users in the EU will be able to install and play the title without having to use a cloud gaming service. Epic said it was “targeting the next couple months for the store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU.” An iPad version of Fortnite is expected to follow this year.
Fortnite has been banned from the iOS App Store for the last several years due to the legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games. An avenue for its return was only made possible after Apple made it possible for iPhone users in the EU to download apps from alternative app marketplaces rather than the App Store, as well as directly from developer websites.
Apple is charging a 0.50 euro Core Technology Fee per year for apps installed outside of the App Store (and in the App Store for developers who opt in to the new terms and also still choose to use Apple’s system), but there are no App Store commissions or in-app fees. While Apple is waiving fees for the first one million installs, the 0.50 per user fee will cost app developers like Epic Games a notable amount of money, especially given that Epic will often be charged twice – once for its app marketplace and once again for every Fortnite install.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been critical of Apple’s App Store changes to bring its policies in line with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Sweeney has described the changes as a “devious new instance of malicious compliance,” and called Apple’s charges “junk fees.” The European Commission last week formally announced its preliminary view that Apple’s App Store policies are in breach of the DMA. The Commission also said it would open a new non-compliance procedure against Apple over concerns that its contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app marketplaces, including its Core Technology Fee, “fall short of ensuring effective compliance with Apple’s obligations under the DMA.”
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