Epic Games has revealed plans to bring its massively popular battle royale Fortnite, as well as the Epic Games Store, to iOS devices in the United Kingdom in the second half of 2025. This long-awaited return to Apple’s mobile ecosystem comes in the wake of the UK government’s newly passed Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.
“Shoutout to the UK for passing a new competition law,” the official Fortnite account announced. “Epic Games Store and Fortnite are coming to iOS in the UK in the second half of 2025.”
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act grants the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expanded powers to curb anti-competitive practices among the world’s dominant technology firms. Among the potential interventions is a requirement for major platforms to allow alternative app stores and sideloaded apps, mirroring provisions in the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
It was the DMA that enabled Epic to make parallel announcements earlier this year regarding Fortnite’s imminent comeback on iOS across Europe, where it would be distributed via a dedicated version of the Epic Games Store. Fortnite has been absent from both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store since 2020 after Epic deliberately skirted the platforms’ payment systems in a move calculated to protest their standard 30% revenue cut.
Apple swiftly terminated Epic’s developer accounts in retaliation, igniting a heated legal battle that has largely favored the iPhone maker thus far in US courts. However, the tide began to turn for Epic with the DMA’s passage, forcing Apple’s hand in opening up iOS to rival app stores and alternative software distribution channels across the EU’s 27 member nations starting in 2024.
Now, with the UK following the EU’s legislative lead, Epic is wasting no time in announcing its intent to leverage those new rules and bring its popular titles like Fortnite back to millions of UK-based iOS users. However, the path ahead remains uncertain as the CMA must first designate which tech behemoths qualify for “Strategic Market Status” and outline potential remedies, decisions that may face challenges and appeals.
Still, today’s announcement underscores Epic’s eagerness to reestablish a lucrative iOS presence for its game storefront and marquee free-to-play titles. It also signals the gaming juggernaut’s belief that Apple will eventually face little choice but to comply with the UK’s new regulations, just as it begrudgingly embraced third-party app stores across the EU after years of bitter resistance.
As the UK joins the escalating global backlash against major tech platforms’ perceived monopolistic practices, the road is clearing for Epic to reclaim its place on iOS and reignite its high-stakes war against the industry’s entrenched distribution models and revenue sharing policies. Only time will tell how well Apple can weather this new regulatory onslaught.
