Despite Tim Sweeney’s vocal opposition to Apple’s new third-party app marketplace guidelines in the European Union, Epic Games is planning to launch its own store on iPhone later this year. The company teased its plans last month, and has shared more details in a blog post today.
Epic Games had its Apple Developer Account banned in 2020 after it violated the App Store guidelines by adding a direct payment option to the Fortnite app. This led to a multi-year legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, which culminated last month after the US Supreme Court denied considering appeals from the case.
As spotted by The Verge, Epic says that Apple has reinstated its Apple Developer Account, and it’s now working on its “Epic Games Store” third-party app marketplace:
We’ve received our Apple Developer Account and will start developing the Epic Games Store on iOS soon thanks to the new Digital Markets Act. We plan to launch in 2024. Epic Games Sweden AB will operate the mobile Epic Games Store and Fortnite in Europe, with the Store team leading development. Epic Games Sweden has 3 studios and 60+ employees.
Epic Games hasn’t shared any additional details on its plans for a third-party app marketplace on iPhone. Per Apple’s guidelines, Epic Games can’t operate an app marketplace that exclusively offers its own content. Apple says that marketplaces must be fair to all developers, so Epic Games will have to accept submissions from other developers as well.
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