Apple is backing down after saying it would not allow Epic Games to have its own app store on IOS in Europe.
Apple decided to reverse its decision following a claim by European Union officials that they would investigate the ban, according to CNN.
Epic Games, which makes Fortnite, has been battling Google and Apple to get around their hold on in-app purchases on their platforms in recent years. Both Google and Apple removed Fortnite from their online stores in 2020 after Epic created a way to purchase in-game currency that didn’t use the in-app purchasing system.
In a blog post, Epic said that Fortnite will be available again on IOS following the decision.
“This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act swiftly to enforce the Digital Markets Act and hold gatekeepers accountable,” the company said.
The Digital Markets Act officially became law on Thursday in the European Union, which is designed to reign in Big Tech companies’ hold on competition. The law requires app store developers to allow app downloads and purchases from third-party vendors.
In a previous post, Epic said in the blog post that Apple had removed its “Epic Games Sweden AB” account, which it planned to use to put the Epic Games Store on IOS.
“This is a serious violation of the DMA and shows Apple has no intention of allowing true competition on iOS devices,” the company said.
Apple told CNN that it reinstated the account after talking with Epic and having Epic agree to new EU-focused policies.
An Epic lawsuit against Google went to trial in November 2023 in San Francisco federal court over the digital payment processing system in the Google Play store.
A jury sided with Epic and agreed that Google maintained an illegal monopoly with the Google Play store. Google plans to appeal the case, but if higher courts uphold the verdict, Epic plans to build its own app store and run its own billing systems on Android, BI previously reported.
Epic lost a similar lawsuit against Apple in 2021. Although a federal judge sided with Apple on most points in that case, the judge did rule that Apple should allow apps to provide links to other payment options.
