After Epic Games announced Fortnite would be coming to iPhone users in Europe, the developers are now preparing the release of their popular battle royale to the iPad as well. Yesterday, BGR reported that the European Commission wants iPadOS to comply with the Digital Markets Act law.
While the iPad doesn’t exactly meet DMA’s criteria, the region understands the platform also needs to be regulated. With that, all changes already available to the iPhone must come to the iPad in the next six months.
One of these changes is the availability of third-party app stores. Epic Games was one of the first developers to announce it would release its Epic Games Store for the region. Still, apart from Apple’s App Store, the only marketplace available is AltStore PAL by Delta’s developers.
Epic Games Newsroom wrote in a post on X: “Today, the European Commission said that iPads must also comply with the Digital Markets Act. We’re moving full steam ahead to bring Fortnite and the Epic Games Store to iPhones in the EU soon and iPads this year.”
That said, we should soon expect Fortnite to make its comeback for the iPhone in Europe, while the app for iPad might only come at the end of the year, as it doesn’t seem Apple will ready this change for iPadOS 17 but most likely, for iPadOS 18.
The other changes expected for European users include:
- New framework and APIs for creating alternative app marketplaces: Enabling marketplace developers to install apps and manage updates on behalf of other developers from their dedicated marketplace app.
- New frameworks and APIs for alternative browser engines: Enabling developers to use browser engines other than WebKit for browser apps and apps with in-app browsing experiences.
- Interoperability request form: Where developers can submit additional requests for interoperability with iPhone and iOS hardware and software features.
- Changes to Safari: Reflecting the DMA’s requirements, Apple must also offer a screen with several browsers users can choose from as their main options.
BGR will let you know once Fortnite becomes available for iPhone users in Europe and later this year for iPads.
