Victory royale

Free subs, read on for every story we posted this week. Paid subs get an analysis of what Fortnite's return to the US App Store means for the mobile game business.

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This week’s stories:

New game digest: Fortnite, Destiny, Marvel, Warhammer, Big Brother, Mattel Match, Final Fantasy, Peppa Pig and more

This week's new game news at-a-glance.

Epic’s US App Store win paves the way for that much-delayed Xbox app store

A recent court filing suggests the owner of Candy Crush Saga, Call of Duty: Mobile, Diablo Immortal and Minecraft could finally be ready to make its move.

Destiny: Rising is now open for pre-order through the App Store

An Android-only beta in North America is incoming too, as are pre-reg details for the Google Play Store.

King crowns Todd Green as new president

Tjodolf Sommestad is leaving King after nearly 14 years at the Candy Crush maker, including three years as president.

Data digest: Royal Match hits $6bn, April’s top games, midcore insights plus funding and financial news

This week's need-to-know numbers in digestible form.

Fortnite is back on the US App Store

The threat of another day in court appears to have forced Apple’s hand - for now, at least…

Clash of Clans is coming to Netflix as an animated series

Supercell has enlisted showrunner Fletcher Moules (Entergalactic, Agent Elvis), head writer Ron Weiner (Silicon Valley, 30 Rock, Futurama, Arrested Development) and Icon Creative Studio to make it.

Apple must resolve Fortnite delay with Epic or face courts again, judge rules

Unless the Fortnite delay is resolved, the individual responsible for compliance at Apple must explain themselves in court on May 27.

Layoffs at Wooga as Claire’s Chronicles: Solitaire is cancelled

Wooga’s next game, currently in soft launch, has been killed, and an as-yet unconfirmed number of layoffs have been made at the studio.

Apple is within its rights to refuse Fortnite’s release in the US, says legal expert

Apple can point to Epic’s breach of the developer agreement in 2020 and “keep the door closed,” says gaming law expert Florian Mueller. “I’m not saying that it's fair or reasonable, but it's what Apple appears to be doing.”

Jobs digest: moves at Scopely, Stillfront, Rovio, Metacore, King, Google and more

There's also recruitment news at Moloco, Neon, Grokka, Sensemitter, Voodoo, Exmox, Duamentes, Exient and Ares Interactive in our latest round-up.

Playrix founders hit tenth in Sunday Times Rich List with growing £12.54bn fortune

Tripledot owner Lior Shiff is also featured as one of the new entries in the list with an estimated fortune of £451m.

Apple won’t release Fortnite in the US until the court rules on its appeal; Epic claims delay is “blatant retaliation”

The saga continues as Fortnite remains offline in the mobile Epic Games Store and in other alt stores.

Activision to close Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile

Players can no longer buy in-game currency, and it’ll be removed from app stores this Sunday, May 18.

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Victory royale

What Fortnite's return to the US App Store means for the mobile game business.

You can’t have missed it, surely. Fortnite is back on the US App Store, and it’s got Apple tax-dodging payment systems built right into the IAP flow.

For some, this moment represents a tipping point for the mobile game business – a liberation from Apple’s infamous 30% IAP commission. But for me the move to alternative payments feels more likely to be a slow burner, not an overnight sensation.

The likes of Scopely and Supercell already have their webstores up and running anyway, and will now get bolder in terms of pushing their high spenders into them. But we’ve yet to see the likes of Microsoft, Tencent, Dream and Playrix really pull the trigger on this stuff, and I can see why.