Fortnite returns to App Store

Epic Games said on Tuesday that Fortnite had returned to Apple’s App Store for iPhone and iPad “worldwide,” reopening a distribution channel the game lost in 2020 after Epic added its own payment option and triggered a legal fight with Apple. Epic said the relisting does not yet include Australia, where it said Apple is still enforcing terms an Australian court found unlawful. Tim Sweeney, Epic’s chief executive, tied the return to the next phase of the companies’ court fight and to pressure on Apple’s fees from regulators outside the United States. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ### How did Fortnite get back onto the App Store now? May 19 was the date Epic used to announce the return, saying Fortnite was back on the App Store “around the world” after Apple told the U.S. Supreme Court that regulators globally were watching the case to see what commission rates Apple could charge on covered purchases outside the United States. Epic said it was returning now because it believed courts and regulators would force more transparency around Apple’s App Store fees. (epicgames.com) May 6 was a key legal date in that sequence. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Apple’s request to temporarily block a judicial order that found the company in violation of court-mandated changes to its App Store rules in the Epic case, according to Reuters. That left in place a contempt ruling and sent the dispute back toward district court proceedings over what commission, if any, Apple can charge on purchases made outside apps. (epicgames.com) ### Why was Fortnite off the App Store for so long? 2020 was when Apple removed Fortnite after Epic updated the game to route users to direct payments instead of Apple’s in-app purchase system, which Apple said violated its rules. CNBC reported that the move started a years-long legal battle over Apple’s control of app distribution and payments on iPhone. (usnews.com) May 2025 brought a separate turning point in the U.S. storefront. Apple updated App Review Guidelines to comply with a U.S. court decision on “buttons, external links, and other calls to action in apps,” according to reports citing Apple’s developer notice. Those changes let developers direct users to outside payment options in the U.S. App Store while Apple continued its appeal. (cnbc.com) ### Why is Australia still excluded? Australia is the one market Epic singled out as still unavailable through Apple’s App Store. Epic said it had won its court case there and that the court found many of Apple’s developer terms unlawful, but that Apple continued to enforce those terms. Epic said it could not return under what it called an illegal payment arrangement and would wait unless Apple adopted different interim payment terms or a court ordered a change. (techcrunch.com) August 2025 reporting had already pointed to a separate path for Fortnite on iOS in Australia through the Epic Games Store after an Australian court ruling, rather than through Apple’s own App Store. Epic’s May 19 statement indicates that process has still not produced a return to Apple’s Australian storefront. (epicgames.com) ### What is Sweeney trying to signal with the “final battle” line? Tim Sweeney said on X that Fortnite was back on Apple’s App Store as Epic headed into the “final battle of Epic v Apple in court.” Epic’s own statement used similar language and argued that Apple had fragmented iOS features and fees by territory while negotiating with regulators in different jurisdictions. (9to5mac.com) Apple’s own court filings have become part of Epic’s argument. Epic quoted Apple’s statement to the U.S. Supreme Court that regulators around the world were watching the case to determine what commission rate Apple may charge in major markets outside the United States. That framing links Fortnite’s return to a broader dispute over how developers can distribute apps and steer users to payment systems beyond Apple’s in-app purchase flow. (epicgames.com) ### What changes for developers from here? Amazon and Spotify were among the companies that updated their apps after the latest U.S. ruling to add links for purchases outside Apple’s payment system, CNBC reported. The immediate effect is that major developers now have a clearer route, at least in the U.S., to send users from iPhone apps to the web for transactions. (epicgames.com) The next legal milestone is in U.S. district court. Reuters said the Supreme Court’s refusal to pause the order means Apple must continue litigating the commission question, and other reports say the two companies have already begun setting a schedule for new fee proposals. Epic’s May 19 statement also said regulators in Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom were moving on app-store rules, naming the participants in the next phase beyond the Apple-Epic case itself. (cnbc.com) (usnews.com)