Tim Sweeney didn’t expect a five-year Fortnite ban
Fortnite was missing from the iOS App Store for nearly five years before returning to the US last month. Apple kicked the game off in 2020 after Epic snuck in an in-app payment mechanism that violated App Store rules at the time. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney knew that the choice would result in "fireworks," but […]
Fortnite was missing from the iOS App Store for nearly five years before returning to the US last month. Apple kicked the game off in 2020 after Epic snuck in an in-app payment mechanism that violated App Store rules at the time. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney knew that the choice would result in "fireworks," but he initially expected the app would return quite a bit sooner.
"I had actually hoped that we would get an injunction against Apple blocking Fortnite and that we'd only be off for a few weeks," Sweeney tells The Verge. "But the court process dragged out, and we were off for five years."
Since its iOS return, Fortnite seems to be having a lot of success on the platform. As I write this, it's the top free game in the App Store. There have been about 10 million downloads on iOS since it came back on May 20th.
Sweeney and Saxs Persson, EVP of Fortnite ecosystem at Epic, wouldn't share a specific number of net new players with the return of Fortnite on iOS, but they say that Epic generally sees two types of people coming to the title. There are the ones who play on the biggest and best device available to them at the time - like a TV at home and a phone on the go - and the ones who pr …
