Epic Games’ blockbuster multiplayer shooter Fortnite is back on Apple’s U.S. App Store, marking the end of a nearly five-year ban and a significant victory for the video game company.
The return follows a lengthy legal battle that began in 2020, when Epic Games, backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent, challenged Apple’s in-app payment policies. The studio claimed Apple’s commission of up to 30% on in-app purchases violated U.S. antitrust laws.
The breakthrough comes after an April 30 ruling by a federal judge, who found Apple in violation of a previous court order intended to open the App Store to greater competition.
The judge stated Apple had failed to comply with the injunction and referred the matter to federal prosecutors for potential criminal contempt.
Apple has not yet issued a statement regarding Fortnite’s reinstatement. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney confirmed the news with a brief post on social media platform X: “We back fam.”
Launched in 2017, Fortnite quickly rose to global fame for its last-player-standing “battle royale” gameplay, amassing 116 million users on Apple devices alone before it was pulled from the App Store.
“For Epic Games, this was a hard-fought win that came at a steep cost—and may be too late to revive a game arguably past its peak,” said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson. “For Apple, it represents another crack in the services model it relies on to collect transaction fees from developers.”
Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors, noted that the ruling could have wider implications. “This opens the door for subscription apps like Spotify and Netflix to retain more of their revenue and for smaller developers to monetize directly, potentially reshaping iOS app economics over the next year.”
Fortnite was originally removed from both Apple and Google app stores in 2020 amid disputes over payment rules. While it has since returned to Android devices globally and Apple devices in the European Union, Tuesday marks its official return to Apple’s U.S. ecosystem. The game is also available via the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the EU, the company said.
