Fortnite has been in and out of the Apple App Store multiple times over the years as its parent company, Epic Games, and Apple battle it out over developer fees. But on Wednesday, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced that the legendary game was once again on its way back to the Apple App Store.
“We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week,” Sweeney wrote on X. “Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic.”
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That litigation is exactly why Fortnite is making its return. Earlier Wednesday, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Apple’s behavior toward web transactions was in bad faith and anticompetitive. Sweeney also posted about this on X shortly before the Fortnite announcement.
“For the reasons set forth herein, the Court finds Apple in willful violation of this Court’s 2021 Injunction which issued to restrain and prohibit Apple’s anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing,” court documents read. “Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated.”
The battle goes back years
In 2021, Epic Games and Apple went to court. Apple largely won that court battle, but didn’t walk away unscathed. A federal judge also ordered Apple to remove its anti-steering barriers, meaning the company must allow apps downloaded from the App Store to steer customers to third-party means.
From the archives: Apple Scores Legal Win Over Epic in Fortnite Lawsuit
Apple appealed the decision later in 2021, with proceedings continuing through 2022 and into 2023. Apple eventually won the appeal. However, the court upheld its anti-steering ruling from 2021 in the process.
When Epic took Apple back to court in 2025, the company pointed out that Apple hadn’t complied with the original ruling in 2021. The judge agreed and is now forcing Apple to follow the rules to the letter. This includes not charging developers for non-App Store payment methods and allowing developers to tell people that such third-party options and platforms exist. The time frame is simple enough. Apple is to comply with these new rules immediately.
Epic Games also has lawsuits against Google and Samsung, seeking to achieve the same result for users of Google Play.
