The publisher of the wildly popular online game Fortnite says Apple rejected its submission of the game to the iOS App Store.
In a post on X on Friday, Epic Games said, “Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”
Blocking the game on iOS is the latest wrinkle in a legal saga pitting the game publisher against the world’s biggest tech company over App Store fees. Recently, a judge ruled that Apple has been ignoring a 2021 injunction barring it from blocking access to outside links for subscriptions and in-app purchases within mobile apps. That decision led to a class-action lawsuit and allowed publishers including Epic and Spotify to resubmit apps with ways for users to access subscriptions and purchases without paying through the App Store, where Apple takes a cut.
The game was expected to return to the iOS App Store this month but the apparent rejection means that’s not likely to happen soon.
Scanning a QR code to access the game on an iPhone takes users to a webpage that currently reads: “The Epic Games Store on iPhone is only available for European Union customers.”
A representative from Apple did not respond to a request for comment on the submission.
Apple responds, sort of
Bloomberg News reported that Apple denied removing Fortnite from “alternative distribution marketplaces,” an allegation Epic Games hasn’t made. According to Bloomberg, Apple says it asked Epic’s European division to resubmit the game without including the US storefront, to keep the game available in other regions. Apple apparently didn’t comment on the game’s submission status for the US App Store.
Because of regulatory differences and legal rulings in the EU, Epic has been able to release its Epic Game Store for iOS in that region, and gamers could download Fortnite through that app. Because the Fortnite update has to be applied on iOS across the board, that’s no longer the case.
