Epic Games to Bring Fortnite to iPad in EU After iPadOS 'Gatekeeper' Decision

With Apple soon to be required to bring the same EU changes that it made on the iPhone to the iPad, Epic Games today confirmed that it will release Fortnite for the ‌iPad‌ in the future.

fortnite apple featured
‌Epic Games‌ is already working to release an ‌iPhone‌ version of Fortnite in the EU, with the game set to be available from the forthcoming ‌Epic Games‌ Store, an alternative app marketplace. The ‌iPhone‌ version of Fortnite is coming "soon," and an ‌iPad‌ version will follow "this year."

The European Commission said this morning that iPadOS, the operating system designed to run on the ‌iPad‌, is considered a digital gatekeeper under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). As a result, Apple has six months to comply with the requirements set by the DMA, and we've already seen those requirements implemented on ‌iPhone‌.


As of iOS 17.4, ‌iPhone‌ users in the European Union can download apps from alternative app marketplaces rather than the App Store, and starting in iOS 17.5, apps are available directly from developer websites. Right now, only ‌iPhone‌ apps can be downloaded outside of the ‌App Store‌, but Apple will need to expand this functionality to the ‌iPad‌ as well.

Within six months, EU users will be able to download ‌iPad‌ apps from alternative app marketplaces and from websites. As with the ‌iPhone‌ updates, the upcoming changes are limited to the European Union, and the ‌iPad‌ app ecosystem will function as is in the rest of the world.

Popular Stories

airpods 4 blue

Apple Finally Explains How to Install New Firmware on Your AirPods

Monday January 27, 2025 11:17 am PST by
Apple regularly releases new firmware for the AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, but the company has historically provided limited information on how to initiate an update. That changed today, and Apple updated its AirPods firmware support page with more specific instructions. Prior to today, here's what Apple said on the subject: Firmware updates are delivered automatically while your...
iOS 18

iOS 18.3 Available as Soon as Today With These New Features

Monday January 27, 2025 6:35 am PST by
Update: Apple has released iOS 18.3. In its press release unveiling a new Black Unity Sport Loop for the Apple Watch today, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.3 is "upcoming." According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple Stores are being instructed to update the software on demo devices today, so iOS 18.3 should be released either today or within the next few days. Below, we recap everything new...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 This Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public this week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
tvOS 18 Thumb 3

Apple Releases tvOS 18.3

Monday January 27, 2025 10:00 am PST by
Apple today released tvOS 18.3, the newest version of the tvOS 18 operating system that came out in September. tvOS 18.3 comes more than a month after Apple released tvOS 18.2, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and the Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.3 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.3 With Visual Intelligence and Notification Summary Improvements

Monday January 27, 2025 10:04 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, the third major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 software that came out last year. iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 come six weeks after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iPadOS 17.7.4 for...

Top Rated Comments

Think|Different Avatar
10 months ago
Any and all Epic 'wins' only illicit this from me these days. They are all for themselves – not the consumer.

Attachment Image
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
10 months ago
Like it or not, it’s a win for consumers against gatekeepers like Apple. Epic Games may have pursued this for self serving reasons, but that doesn’t diminish the practical value of the DMA nor the upcoming DOJ antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. against Apple.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
10 months ago
Hope nobody downloads it - out of spite
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
10 months ago
Congratulations EU friends. You now get the CHOICE to put what software you want on favorite tech devices you own... this being but one of them... while the rest of us have "Daddy" deciding for us what can and can't be installed on the very same tech we've purchased. Apparently to many of us, Father knows best... and whatever Father dictates is the only way it should be.

Enjoy your greater freedom... much like the rest of us have and have had with our Macs for many years now... leading to no apocalypse, no disaster, no account draining by evil crime syndicates, we're not swimming in viruses, no locusts/frogs/famine, etc... just as you are experiencing after almost 2 months of these laws taking effect... and as it will likely be months and then years from now too.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IceCool Avatar
10 months ago
lol to the people that think the EU is giving users a “choice” ???
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shadowboi Avatar
10 months ago

Epic Games Store
That’s all we need to know. Another day to forget that Fortnite exists. What’s next, they will ask you to install antivirus for iPhone in order to be able to launch the game? Really, who cares about their store, it ain’t “epic” at all.

The only decent online games store I have ever seen was GOG. No bloatware, no fake deals and ads, no bs approach
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)