The head of Fortnite makes a surprising confession after a five-year feud with Apple.
When Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney decided to challenge Apple's App Store policies, he was prepared for a tough fight.
But what he didn't expect was just how long the fallout would last.
Epic Games, the parent company of the global hit Battle Royale game Fortnite, has been embroiled in a long-running legal battle with Apple since 2020.
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It began when Epic introduced a direct payment option within the Fortnite iOS app. This allowed players to buy in-game items straight from the Epic Store rather than using Apple’s in-app payment system.
By doing so, Epic avoided the 30% cut the tech giant usually takes from App Store purchases.
However, Epic was found in violation of Apple's App Store policy and, as a result, the game that boasts 390 million registered users was removed from the Store.
Now, five years on, the leadership at Epic has made a statement.
While the removal was done without warning, the company anticipated it - just not for it to last five years. Sweeney hoped the legal system would quickly intervene, allowing the game to return to iOS within weeks.
"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 told The Verge. "But the court process dragged out, and we were off for five years."
While Apple ultimately won nearly every aspect of the case, the court ruled against the company's restrictions on alternative payment methods.
So, while the battle wasn't in vain, Sweeney claimed their choice to fight Apple cost the gaming giant $1 billion.
Now back on the store, Epic plans to make the most of it, as Sweeney says that 'all future growth of Fortnite will primarily be on mobile.'
Executive VP Saxs Persson agreed that winning the legal battle with Apple has become central to the team’s development of Fortnite. The VP added that the iOS version of the game is now 'part of everybody's life' at the company.
"The doors are open now, and we can actually go and every day make the game better," he continued. Furthermore, since Epic was given the option to offer its own payment system, 40% of users have chosen to use it, Sweeney noted.
Meanwhile, the remaining 60% of users using Apple’s in-app payment method is reportedly down to those who have set up existing payment accounts with Apple.
"As we get more players to associate payment methods with their Epic accounts," he said. "We'll see a higher rate of adoption, and I would hope that it would be above 50%."
Since its return to iOS on May 20, Fortnite has shot to the top of the App Store's free games chart, racking up roughly 10 million downloads on Apple devices.