Fortnite Returns to the App Store Worldwide as Epic Signals 'Final Battle' With Apple

[MacRumors]

Fortnite is back on the App Store in every country except Australia, Epic Games announced today, as the company declared it is entering the "final battle" of its long-running legal dispute with Apple.

Epic said the decision to push Fortnite back onto iOS globally was prompted by Apple's own words to the U.S. Supreme Court, in which Apple acknowledged that "regulators around the world are watching this case to determine what commission rate Apple may charge on covered purchases in huge markets outside the United States." Epic CEO Tim Sweeney framed the move as a strategic provocation, writing on X that the return marks "the beginning of the end of the Apple Tax worldwide."

The return follows Fortnite's reinstatement to the U.S. App Store in May 2025 after nearly five years off the platform. The return was forced after District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers threatened to require the Apple official overseeing app decisions to appear in court, which prompted Apple to approve the submission. Today's worldwide rollout extends that comeback to most remaining markets, with Epic expressing confidence that an upcoming court-ordered transparency process will expose what the company calls Apple's "junk fees."

Apple knows the U.S. federal court will force it to be transparent about how it charges its App Store fees. Fortnite is returning to the App Store now because we are confident that once Apple is forced to show its costs, governments around the world will not allow Apple junk fees to stand.

In late April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a stay that had allowed Apple to pause its compliance with rulings on App Store fees, sending the case back to Judge Gonzalez Rogers to determine what commission Apple can charge on purchases made via external links, if any.

Epic said it will "continue to challenge Apple's anticompetitive App Store practices of banning alternative app stores and competition in payments," pointing to regulatory momentum in Japan, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. The company alleged that Apple has "evaded the laws with scare screens, fees and onerous requirements" in each of those jurisdictions.

Australia is the one major market where Fortnite has not returned. Epic said it won its court case there and that an Australian court found many of Apple's developer terms to be unlawful, but Apple continues to enforce those terms regardless. Epic said it cannot return "under an illegal payment arrangement" and is waiting for a court order to compel Apple to comply.

Article Link: Fortnite Returns to the App Store Worldwide as Epic Signals 'Final Battle' With Apple

 

[TSE]

So sick and tired of this story for such a silly game and company that are already past their peak.

Gaming in general is so childish and has no place on any of Apple’s platforms, in my opinion. Apple devices and users are above that use case.

 

[Hogswarts]

Open your wallets

 

[turbineseaplane]

I know I’m certainly ready for the battle to end.

 

[zorinlynx]

Do that many people really play Fortnite on phones?

I've played a bit (mostly Zero Build Battle Royale) and it's an FPS. As in, a shooter, as in, mouse and keyboard is the best way and a controller is a distant second. I can't imagine trying to play on a phone with touch controls. Our group played exclusively on PC with keyboard+mouse.

I drifted away from the game when the main friend group I was playing with moved on; playing with randoms is just plain obnoxious.

 

[rgeneral]

What is so special about this game?

 

[boswald]

So sick and tired of this story for such a silly game and company that are already past their peak.

Gaming in general is so childish and has no place on any of Apple’s platforms, in my opinion. Apple devices and users are above that use case.

As I get older, the more I feel detached from the gaming community. I just don't feel represented and welcome. It's almost like they bring out the worst in people and the community (at least the corner I'm a part of) is surviving on stereotypes.

 

[J InTech82]

This is so silly. Apple’s devices, Apple’s rules.

 

[johannnn]

Not gonna install. Even if I liked the game. I think Tim Sweeney seems really annoying

 

[boswald]

What is so special about this game?

It makes Epic enough money to battle Apple in court. That's it.

 

[Scipster]

But what about Infinity Blade? So annoyed those apps were removed from my library. Leave us consumers out of this - bring them back!!

 

[Falco McGregor]

Sweeney really continues to underestimate how little people give a s*** about this.

 

[Slix]

After more than 5 years and multiple rounds of legal battles, finally they can earn that extra 30%* from people and start getting money on iOS again worldwide. What a good use of time and money! 🙄

*this doesn't take into account they likely are using some other payment processing service that also requires some amount of charge to another company instead of Apple's.

 

[gaggle]

Right now I have apps with higher prices in-app than from the company’s own website. And it’s a much larger pain to unsubscribe from those compared to through Apple’s built-in Subscriptions screen.

Alt-stores, home-rolled payments, IDGAF, but what I see is someone has already ruined the very nice and safe App Store experience.

 

[stainless]

So if I download Fortnite, and I don’t like the clothing, weapons or characters that Epic offers and wanna purchase one from outside their walled garden, can I sue Epic and argue that Epic cost is too much, that they should allow open source; clothing, weapons, and characters?

How about the fact that Amazon charges way more than Apple?! what’s the difference there other than physical goods versus digital goods?!

 

[CarAnalogy]

threatened to require the Apple official overseeing app decisions to appear in court

And Larry David couldn’t make it so they had to cave.

Seriously though, is there even such a person? It seems all decisions are made by committee / middle management based on vague directives from on high.

 

[The_Auryn]

As a 50 year old+ male who used to be a gamer in his youth, I've played this a couple of times. When I land upon the island, I usually last about eight seconds before I'm taking out. I can't imagine playing it on an iPhone.

 

[Stecchino]

So sick and tired of this story for such a silly game and company that are already past their peak.

Gaming in general is so childish and has no place on any of Apple’s platforms, in my opinion. Apple devices and users are above that use case.

Agreed about being sick of this legal saga. From the onset Epic is extremely disingenuous--particularly Tim Sweeney--about 'fighting evil Apple'. Then you have Apple's 'malicious compliance' with the rulings...only doing the absolute minimum as they try to drag it out.

But gaming is general is such a massively broad category...games have been with us since early computing days and always will be. Ignoring gaming or somehow discouraging it wouldn't make sense for Apple.

 

[Stecchino]

As I get older, the more I feel detached from the gaming community. I just don't feel represented and welcome. It's almost like they bring out the worst in people and the community (at least the corner I'm a part of) is surviving on stereotypes.

I can see that. In my case, not looking for 'community' too much, just looking to enjoy games that don't have constant releases and online services...I've been using NostalgiApp this year on my Mac. Loving it so far, a nice unified old school retro games launcher

 

[jgassens]

This is so silly. Apple’s devices, Apple’s rules.

Actually, I bought the device. It is my device. I should be able to put whatever app I want on it.

 

[ahbiteme]

Honestly, I get this weird vibe about Sweeney because I feel like his radar is off here. Yet, he does some good stuff and is probably not a bad person - like he does good stuff around conservation, for example.

But I think he's way off here. He has a product that he wants to sell, and he wants to access consumers via Apple, who have built a big group of consumers who use their products. Imagine if this were brick and mortar retail - Epic would sell their product to a shop, that shop would then on-sell the product to consumers, and would take a quite substantial cut. The shop's job is to get consumers through the door.

That's how I see this. Epic sells via Apple, and Apple has built a strong base of consumers on their devices. Somehow, it feels like Epic wants to sell their game through a retailer, and expect that the retailer doesn't get a cut. Or, that the retailer who owns the shop allows another retailer to come into their shop to sell the same stuff without helping to pay the rent. It just doesn't really make much sense to me. I'm sure I'm missing something.

 

[Cameront9]

So they’re gonna put it back on the Mac now, right?

Right?

 

[alongdingdong]

Does it natively run on the macbook Neo because its a iphone chip?
As the macbook neo can run certain IOS apps natively.

 

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[awshucks]

Epic missed the opportunity to call the final battle the Battle Royale.