In a shocking move, Apple has terminated Epic Games' developer account, making the future of Fortnite iOS uncertain once again. This comes just days after Epic Games officially announced that it would begin work on a dedicated store for iOS devices. Once completed, it would allow players to once more access Fortnite on all iOS devices.
It would seem that this is a retaliation from Apple's side over certain statements that were made by Epic Games' CEO, Tim Sweeney. The press release reads:
"Apple said one of the reasons they terminated our developer account only a few weeks after approving it was because we publicly criticized their proposed DMA compliance plan. Apple cited this X post from this thread written by Tim Sweeney."
Since the termination was based on legal grounds, it would seem that Epic Games will not be able to overrule things any time soon. As such, the development of Fortnite for iOS will likely stop. This is rather upsetting news for the millions of players who have been locked out of the game for years at this point. Sadly, there's nothing that can be done at the moment.
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Will Fortnite iOS ever come back?
Given that Apple has terminated Epic Games' developer account, there is no way for the latter to create an app store for iOS devices. Since Fortnite cannot be loaded onto any iOS device directly, the future of Fortnite iOS seems rather bleak. Despite winning in the EU and being allowed to execute plans for the iOS Epic Games store, everything seems to have fallen through.
For the time being and foreseeable future, if Apple denies Epic Games access to their developer's account, Fortnite will probably remain off iOS devices permanently. While they can be played via GeForce Now and other cloud gaming services, it's not the same thing by a long shot. That being said, Fortnite iOS players will have to bite their tongue and migrate to other consoles if they want to play the game at the moment.
Note: You can read Epic Games' full statement here.