Fortnite Coming to AltStore on iOS in European Union

[MacRumors]

Apple rival Epic Games today announced plans to bring Fortnite to alternative app store AltStore in the European Union, which will mean the popular game will soon be available to download on iPhones and iPads.

Created by developer Riley Testut, AltStore PAL was one of the first alternative app stores on iOS when it launched back in April. AltStore PAL is available in the European Union, where Apple supports sideloading to comply with Digital Markets Act.

AltStore is an open-source app that distributes Testut's popular Delta game emulator as well as apps from other independent developers. Distributing apps through AltStore is free of charge, so Epic Games will not need to pay a fee to Testut, but Apple will collect an 0.50 euro Core Technology Fee (CTF) from Epic Games after Fortnite receives more than one million annual first installs.

Customers who install AltStore must also pay 1.50 euros per year, a fee that is required because of Apple's CTF. Apple charges Testut 0.50 euros each time AltStore is installed.

Along with bringing Fortnite to AltStore, Epic Games said that it will bring Fortnite to other mobile stores that "give all developers a great deal," while also "ending distribution partnerships with mobile stores that serve as rent collectors." Epic Games said that it will be removing Fortnite and other Epic titles from the Samsung Galaxy Store to protest Samsung's "anticompetitive decision to block side-loading by default" on Samsung devices.

Epic Games also reiterated plans to bring its Epic Games Store to iOS in the European Union. Epic will charge a store fee of 12 percent for payments that it processes, and 0 percent on third-party payments.

Article Link: Fortnite Coming to AltStore on iOS in European Union

 

[breenmask]

lol dead game, dead store, but either way, Epic will find some way to blame Apple for lack of players.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Neat! Epic coming to make hundreds of dollars on this as opposed to the millions they were making

 

[Realityck]

In other news

Epic Games pulling Fortnite from Galaxy Store just as the game returns to iOS in the EU

Epic Games pulling Fortnite from Galaxy Store just as the game returns to iOS in the EU

www.phonearena.com

Epic Games has just announced that Fortnite and other Epic Games titles will be leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store. This is in protest of Samsung's decision to block side-loading by default on their Android devices, which Epic Games considers anti-competitive.

The decision above is a response to revelations in the US Epic v Google lawsuit about Google's proposals to Samsung to limit competition in the Android app distribution market. However, there is a silver lining, as Fortnite is set to return to iOS devices in the European Union.

Are things never happy at Epic? If it isn't Apple now it's with Samsung.

 

[icanhazmac]

Customers who install AltStore must also pay 1.50 euros per year, a fee that is required because of Apple's CTF. Apple charges Testut 0.50 euros each time AltStore is installed.

What?!?!

That is an unreasonable markup and should be investigated!

 

[rjp1]

lol dead game, dead store, but either way, Epic will find some way to blame Apple for lack of players.

I don't play the game and don't care about it.

However, the game is still massively popular and the playerbase is still growing. Companies would kill to have a "dead" game like this.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

What?!?!

That is an unreasonable markup and should be investigated!

In their defense, they tell you exactly what it covers. Riley doesn't quite have the massive infrastructure or buying power that Tim has.

From altstore.io:

Your subscription covers Apple's Core Technology Fee, payment processing, and server costs

 

[icanhazmac]

In their defense, they tell you exactly what it covers.

But, but, according to some here on MR it doesn't cost anything to operate a store and Apples 30% markup is highway robbery!!!

 

[Jumpthesnark]

In other news

Epic Games pulling Fortnite from Galaxy Store just as the game returns to iOS in the EU

Epic Games pulling Fortnite from Galaxy Store just as the game returns to iOS in the EU

www.phonearena.com

Are things never happy at Epic? If it isn't Apple now it's with Samsung.

But is it "other news" if it's already in the story?

Epic Games said that it will be removing Fortnite and other Epic titles from the Samsung Galaxy Store to protest Samsung's "anticompetitive decision to block side-loading by default" on Samsung devices.

 

[paulomagrani]

Fortnite, available at altstore will blow on sales. And for the ones that does not have any kid or teenagers around will think it is not a great announcement. But wait and see!
Many people will be wanting to connect by VPS to EU to get this passthroughs to install Fortnite and many other not so great apps.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

But, but, according to some here on MR it doesn't cost anything to operate a store and Apples 30% markup is highway robbery!!!

It's possible for both to be true.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Fortnite, available at altstore will blow on sales. And for the ones that does not have any kid or teenagers around will think it is not a great announcement. But wait and see!
Many people will be wanting to connect by VPS to EU to get this passthroughs to install Fortnite and many other not so great apps.

VPNs won't work, Apple has already thought of this obvious ploy. There have been other posts on MR during this long saga that mentioned Apple using the network connection, GPS and the country where the Apple account-holder is resident to determine whether they are able to access EU apps and app stores.

 

[dotnet]

Are Epic games 30% cheaper on side-load stores than on the Apple App Store?

 

[MisterSavage]

However, the game is still massively popular and the playerbase is still growing. Companies would kill to have a "dead" game like this.

Seriously. I'll have to tell the couple hundred thousand people I see playing it each time I log on to play it is "dead".

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Does this mean that Fortnite is no longer Free to Play on iOS since a player has to pay for the App Store in order to play it?

“AltStore: The simple easy way to make ANY game subscription based!”

 

[DestructoTim]

But, but, according to some here on MR it doesn't cost anything to operate a store and Apples 30% markup is highway robbery!!!

TBF, it costs next to nothing… and part of that next to nothing cost is paying Apple.. Somehow they still have to pay Apple, which is ridiculous. Hopefully the CTF will be regulated away too.

I understand Apple taking a cut on a store Apple hosts and owns. But in what kind of dystopian era are we living in where there are fees for installing third party software from a third party source (possibly even software you wrote yourself)? Apple shouldn’t be involved at all at that point.

I mean whatever side of the argument you are on for opening up iPhone, its already done and that is the reality we now live in. That being the factual world we live in it would be really bizarre for anyone to take the stance that Apple should be allowed to cash in on software it doesn’t distribute or develop. That is like the deepest end of anticonsumer shenanigans, and supporting it is self harming. That is HP printer ink, levels of the burning underworld.

I can’t imagine even the zealous wanting to be charged fees for using hardware they already paid for. There is really no ground to stand on there and even if there was it would be the same as cheering on the apocalypse. Silly stuff no one can take seriously.

 

[Atomicow]

But, but, according to some here on MR it doesn't cost anything to operate a store and Apples 30% markup is highway robbery!!!

They also think that Apple charging just 15% is highway robbery. They, like Epic themselves, will not be happy until Apple charges nothing. But they grovel at Tim Sweeneys feet for charging 12%.

 

[coffeemilktea]

Epic Games said that it will be removing Fortnite and other Epic titles from the Samsung Galaxy Store to protest Samsung's "anticompetitive decision to block side-loading by default" on Samsung devices.

If he ever gets tired of working in the video game industry, I imagine Tim Sweeney would make a fantastic content creator: the man loves stirring up pointless drama.

 

[CarAnalogy]

What?!?!

That is an unreasonable markup and should be investigated!

The real irony is, as long as that’s the case, Apple is probably fine with this. As long as they make their 30%.

Ok I’m gonna be that guy right now, it’s times like this I miss Steve Jobs. I really don’t think they’d be in this situation in the first place. I don’t know what he would have done and that’s the point, he would have made this clear and been proven right by time and the market.

Maybe that’s just wishful thinking caused by the increasing mess this is causing with the platform. And watching that video recently posted to the Archive. He had a pretty clear idea how this should work over 40 years ago. Yes he was not right about everything, but the vision was clearer than what we have today, even now.

I don’t think he would have chosen to so strongly hold on to their 30% to the detriment of so much else, for one thing.

 

[frownface]

do kids even still play fortnite?

 

[Johns12]

do kids even still play fortnite?

Yes.

 

[Plutonius]

Maybe Epic should start paying people to download and play Fortnite .

 

[artifex]

Epic Games said that it will be removing Fortnite and other Epic titles from the Samsung Galaxy Store to protest Samsung's "anticompetitive decision to block side-loading by default" on Samsung devices.

hah. That's a security measure. Nothing says you can't change the setting to allow sideloading. It just makes you think about it first. It also probably means child profiles need adult permission, and they'd better not complain about that.

It's also shooting themselves in the foot, because if they don't want to be on Google's store, and they don't want to be on the Galaxy store, Galaxy device owners who want those games have no choice but to face the sideloading decision they're complaining about. So it's probably really they just want to stop paying fees. They don't mind charging fees in their own store, of course.

 

[Random_Matt]

Do the kids still play ****** Fortnite?

 

[boss.king]

Do the kids still play ****** Fortnite?

~220M monthly players, about 30M of which play daily (at least from the numbers I could find in a quick Google search), so I'd assume that at least some of those are kids.