Epic Games has asked Apple to reinstate its hit Fortnite online battle game into the iPhone and iPad App Store in response to a South Korean law that clamps down on how mobile app stores operate. The new law, which was first passed in August and is expected to go into effect soon, forces app store operators like Apple and Google to loosen restrictions they’ve instituted over the years.
Apple and Google kicked Epic off their respective app stores last August, after it quietly changed code inside Fortnite intended to break both companies’ rules. Apple and Google require that any app developers selling digital goods, such as a movie subscription or new looks for a character in a video game, do so through in-app payment systems built into the Apple and Google app stores. Apple and Google both take up to a 30% cut of each sale through their payments services.
Epic intentionally broke that rule, offering gamers an alternative to pay through its own payments service, effectively cutting out Apple’s and Google’s commissions in the process. In response, Apple and Google both kicked Epic out of their stores.
«Epic has asked Apple to restore our Fortnite developer account,» Epic said in a statement on Twitter late Thursday. «Epic intends to re-release Fortnite on iOS in Korea offering both Epic payment and Apple payment side-by-side in compliance with the new Korean law.»
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
