Fortnite returns to the US App Store after legal dispute

Fortnite is officially back on the United States App Store, ending a nearly five-year absence that began in August 2020. The approval of the app was confirmed this week after a long legal battle between Epic Games and Apple, which has been ongoing since the studio tried to circumvent the up to 30% fees charged by Apple on in-app transactions.

The game's return comes shortly after facing new legal pressure. Last week, Epic Games reported that it had submitted Fortnite for review to the Apple store in the US, but received no response for almost two weeks. The company then filed a new lawsuit questioning the delay. Earlier this week, a federal judge ordered Apple to explain the delay or immediately approve the app. The following day, the game was released on the store.

Despite the relaunch, Apple continues to resist the implementation of the new store policies. The company has filed for a temporary suspension of the judicial decision requiring the release of external payment links within apps. So far, Apple has not officially commented on either the approval of Fortnite or the appeal against the decision.

The partial victory of Epic Games is based on the judicial decision that deemed Apple's control over in-app payments abusive, allowing developers to include external links to alternative payment methods. According to the court, Apple can no longer prevent or dictate how these links should be displayed.

It's worth noting that the dispute between the two companies began when Epic Games integrated its own purchasing system into Fortnite, violating the App Store's rules. This led to the immediate removal of the game in 2020. Since then, Epic has been fighting legal battles in the United States and the European Union to ensure more distribution and monetization freedom. With the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by the EU in 2023, Epic was able to distribute Fortnite in Europe through third-party stores on iOS.

Currently, players from anywhere can download Fortnite from the American App Store and play on an iPhone or iPad, but the situation remains uncertain. If Apple succeeds in its appeal, the game may be removed from the store again — or see its monetization model limited once more.

The situation continues to develop, and the future of Fortnite's presence in the North American iOS ecosystem still depends on pending judicial decisions.