Apple and Epic Games have been locked in litigation for years, with the main victim being the mobile version of Fortnite, the world’s most popular battle royale. Apple’s fees for microtransactions in games and apps from the App Store are the root of the entire mess. That said, Epic Games has achieved an important court victory against Apple. Thanks to this, Fortnite Mobile will return to Apple’s App Store in the United States next week.
Background to the Epic Games vs. Apple legal clash
Fortnite Mobile has been off the App Store since 2020. Epic Games took Apple to court, alleging potential illegal practices in multiple areas. The main allegation was Apple’s fee collection policy. The Cupertino giant forces app developers to set up Apple Pay as the unique payment platform. Otherwise, their apps will not receive approval to reach the App Store. The problem is that Apple takes 30% of each purchase through Apple Pay.
Since iOS is a much more closed OS than Android, not being able to access the App Store prevents apps from reaching virtually all of Apple’s mobile device user base. Thus, developers feel coerced into accepting the company’s abusive policies. Well, the efforts of Epic Games’ legal team have finally paid off. While Apple successfully refuted most of Epic Games’ allegations, the judge ruled against the Cupertino giant regarding the collection of fees.
Fortnite Mobile returning to App Store in the US after court ruling against Apple
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling states that Apple was in “willful violation” of a 2021 court order. That court order favored Apple in the Epic Games case but also prohibited Apple from setting competitive prices. For example, Apple could no longer charge fees for purchases made outside the App Store. The idea at the time was for Apple to allow app developers to direct users to their websites. That way, users could make in-app purchases from the website at more affordable prices. These prices would not be subject to Apple’s fee.
However, Apple “willfully” failed to comply with the order, the judge stated. “That it thought this Court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation. As always, the coverup made it worse. For this Court, there is no second bite at the apple,” the ruling read. She even referred the case to the federal prosecutor’s office to consider potential criminal proceedings against Apple for contempt.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, celebrated the ruling in favor of the game developer. He even stated on X/Twitter that Fortnite Mobile will return to Apple’s US App Store next week. Sweeney also presented a proposal: “If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the matter.”
We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week.
Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic. https://t.co/bIRTePm0Tv
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 30, 2025
It’s noteworthy that Fortnite returned to iOS last year in the EU. However, it is only available through the Epic Games Store for smartphones, an app store that is not available in the United States. In Europe, Apple was forced to allow alternative app stores as a remedy for its anti-competitive practices.
