Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: Fortnite is finally back in the US App Store

Date: Tue, 20 May 2025 22:29:47 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/mobile/fortnite-is-f...

Fortnite is back in the US App Store. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced that he
intended to relaunch the game in late April, following a court order that
demanded Apple stop collecting a 27 percent fee on app transactions that
happen outside of its in-app purchase system. The company finally amending
its rules to remove that additional commission is why Epic moved forward with
the relaunch.

The origins of this conflict can be traced all the way back to 2020, when
Epic added its own method for collecting payments for in-game items in
Fortnite and encouraged players to circumvent Apple's system. Fortnite was
removed from the App Store (and the Google Play Store for that matter), Epic
sued and the rest is history.

Epic didn't win its entire case against Apple, but it did secure a permanent
injunction allowing developers to include in-app text that makes users aware
of payment options other than the App Store. According to the latest court
order, Apple allowed that text, but was still demanding developers pay it a
fee for those non-App Store transactions. That prompted the judge overseeing
the companies' case to demand Apple stop and remove even more obstacles from
the payment process.

Fortnite is BACK on the App Store in the U.S. on iPhones and iPads... and on
the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the E.U! ItΓÇÖll show up in Search soon!


Get Fortnite on the App Store in the U.S. ➡️ https://t.co/HQu3pYCXFm
pic.twitter.com/w74QPFFkOS

ΓÇö Fortnite (@Fortnite) May 20, 2025

It was anticipated that Fortnite would return far earlier than it actually
did. Companies like Spotify swiftly updated their apps to take advantage of
Apple's rule change, and in fact Spotify managed to submit multiple updates
in the time it took Epic to get its up once. Today's news comes in the wake
of a Judge ordering Apple on May 19 to either resolve the matter or have the
"Apple official who is personally responsible" show up in court next week to
explain why.

Fortnite has technically been available on Apple devices in other ways for a
while now, whether its through the Epic Game Store in the European Union, or
game streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now in the
US. Returning to the App Store is a symbolic victory. The real prize are the
court orders that came from Epic v. Apple.

Assuming they survive Apple's appeal, they could dramatically reshape Apple's
business and the way apps work on the iPhone.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/mobile/fortnite-is-f...
222946133.html?src=rss

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