Video Games

Fortnite could return to iOS in 2023

Epic's Tim Sweeney may have teased a comeback

Marco Wutz

Fortnite could return to iOS in 2023
Fortnite could return to iOS in 2023 /

Popular battle royale game Fortnite may come back to Apple’s official store on iOS devices in 2023.

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney may have teased the title’s return on Twitter in the last hours of 2022, posting “Next year on iOS!” followed by a screenshot from Fortnite showcasing some fireworks spelling out 2023.

Epic and Apple fell out with each other in 2020, when the publisher and developer introduced an in-app payment system that would cut out Apple from the process completely – a move that according to Apple violated the App Store’s terms of service and in the end led to Fortnite’s banishment from the store. Epic immediately attacked Apple with an advert referencing George Orwell’s famous piece 1984, publicly stylizing itself as fighting for consumer rights and against unjust conditions imposed by Apple.

A lawsuit filed by Epic Games against Apple ended in favor of the iOS maker in nine out of ten counts in 2021. Epic has appealed this ruling and a new round of hearings started in November 2022.

While iOS users could still play Fortnite through services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now during all this time, the game’s ban from the App Store proved very frustrating for anyone wanting to play it on iPhone and other devices powered by Apple’s operating system.

The spat between the two corporations may finally end in 2023, if Sweeney’s tweet is anything to go by, though any substantial details are still lacking at this moment.

The FTC recently issued a decree forcing Epic Games to refund some in-game purchases made in Fortnite. You can find out how to get refund under the link.

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Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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