Epic Games’ blockbuster multiplayer shooter “Fortnite” has made its comeback on the Apple App Store in the US as of Tuesday, ending a nearly five-year hiatus and marking a significant achievement for the game developer.
Since 2020, Epic Games, a US-based company partly owned by China’s Tencent, has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Apple. Epic Games accused the tech giant of imposing a commission of up to 30 percent on in-app purchases, claiming this practice breached US antitrust laws.
The return of “Fortnite” to Apple’s iOS platform follows a ruling on April 30 by a federal judge, who stated that Apple had not adhered to a court order mandating increased competition for app downloads and payment methods within its App Store. The ruling noted that Apple had also neglected compliance with a prior injunction and would be subjected to criminal contempt investigations by federal prosecutors.
Apple had yet to respond to a request for comment from Reuters regarding “Fortnite’s” re-entry into its App Store. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, expressed enthusiasm on social media platform X, stating, “We back fam.”
Since its launch in 2017, “Fortnite” has become a global sensation, captivating millions of players with its last-player-standing, “battle royale” gameplay. At the time it was banned, Epic had amassed 116 million users solely on Apple’s platform.
Analyst Gil Luria from DA Davidson described the development as a hard-won victory for Epic Games, albeit with significant costs, suggesting that it might be too late to rejuvenate “Fortnite,” which he views as having passed its peak. He added that for Apple, this represents another challenge to its services model, which significantly relies on processing payments through its platform and collecting fees from developers.
Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors, noted that this ruling could enable subscription services such as Spotify and Netflix to regain margins and allow independent studios to monetize their apps without incurring extra costs to Apple, potentially transforming the economic landscape of iOS in the next 12 to 18 months.
In 2020, both Apple and Alphabet’s Google removed “Fortnite” from their app stores following disputes over in-app payment rules. While “Fortnite” has previously returned to Google’s Android devices globally and to iPhones in the EU last year, its re-launch on Apple’s platform marks a notable milestone.
The game is also accessible via the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the European Union, as announced by Fortnite on X on Tuesday.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
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