Apple has lifted its ban on Epic Games and will allow “Fortress Heroes” to run on iPhones in the EU

The Digital Markets Act (DMA), a new set of EU regulations forcing big tech companies to open up their core platforms to competition, came into effect on Thursday.

As of Friday, the DMA has resolved the latest conflict between Apple and Epic Games.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on Notifying the Commission and Epic that it will soften and restore our access to reinstate Fortnite and launch the Epic Games Store in Europe under the DMA Act. “

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This latest behind-the-scenes footage conflict The partnership between Apple and Epic Games was revealed on Wednesday, so as Sweeney said, it’s an incredible win for a new DMA that’s only been out for a day.

The result of this decision means that Fortress Heroes may soon be returning to iOS, meaning players in the European Union can play the popular battle royale game again on iPhone for the first time since 2020.

War between Apple and Epic Games paused

Epic Games, the developer of “Fortress Heroes”, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that Apple has terminated the iOS developer account previously approved by the video game company.

This isn’t the first time the iPhone maker and Fortress Heroes developer have clashed. 2020 Apple start up Epic Games’ Fortnite has been pulled from the App Store as the gaming company attempts to avoid paying Apple’s revenue-sharing fees for in-app purchases. Since then, Fortress Heroes has been unplayable on iOS devices.

However, due to the DMA, Apple is forced to comply with several new EU rules. New law means Apple must allow “alternative market“Compete with the official App Store and allow app developers to publish apps on iPhone without going through Apple’s distribution model.

After Apple announced this new policy, Epic Games quickly expressed its intention to bring “Fortress Heroes” back to the EU iPhone. To this end, Epic Games has opened a new developer account to build the Epic Games mobile app store in the EU under new “alternative market” rules.

Apple canceled those plans on Wednesday — at least temporarily.According to Epic Games, Apple termination Its developer account cited Fortress Heroes’ history of breaking Apple’s rules and Epic Games’ outspoken criticism of Apple.

However, as of Thursday, Apple is now officially operating under a new set of regulations in the European Union. Epic Games filed a complaint with EU regulators, and as of Thursday, the European Commission had begun investigating the issue.

Apple said in a statement: “Following conversations with Epic, they committed to following the rules, including our DMA policy. As a result, Epic School AB has been allowed to re-sign the developer agreement, and [be] Be included in the Apple Developer Program. “

“Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that they will reinstate our developer account,” Epic Games said in its own public press release. “We are moving forward with the launch of the Epic Games Store as planned and will be adding Fortnite to the “Bringing back the European iOS platform.”

Apple’s quick turnaround is certainly an impressive early feat for DMA. It will be interesting to see how these new regulations play out one day after they are officially implemented.