Apple vs Epic continues. Image source: Epic Games
“Fortnite” developer Epic Games had claimed that Apple was both keeping the game out of the US App Store, and removing it from stores in the European Union, but now Apple denies this.
After its first submission of “Fortnite” to the App Store was allegedly ignored by Apple, Epic Games announced that the game had been blocked in the US. According to the company’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, Apple had also removed it from the European one, despite previously having been forced to allow it.
Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.
— Fortnite (@Fortnite) May 16, 2025
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has given no further explanation, but now Apple has responded in a statement to Bloomberg.
Apple: We asked that Epic Sweden resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies. We did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces in the EC https://t.co/QcZitRbuWZ
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) May 16, 2025
This appears to suggest that Apple is not intending to allow “Fortnite” back on to the US App Store. Developers have to specify what territories their app should go in, and seemingly Epic Games included the United States in its submission.
Apple does not address why it may or may not be refusing to accept the app in its US store. Equally, Epic Games has not commented on why it claimed there was a worldwide ban on “Fortnite.”
How we got here
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in April 2025 that Apple had wilfully tried to work around conditions set by the court. Consequently, so she imposed more stringent, and more specific ones that included allowing developers to use alternatives to Apple’s own in-app payment processing.
Apple is appealing against that ruling, but in the meantime is required to comply. Epic Games subsequently announced that this meant its “Fortnite” game would return to the App Store.
The games company next complained that Apple had ignored its submission to the store, despite also claiming that the two sides had been in discussions.
“We’ve told Apple what we’re doing. We’ve told their developer relations team,” he said in early May 2025. “I can’t imagine Apple blocking Fortnite at this point.”
What happens next
Epic Games was originally thrown off the App Store because it purposely violated its user agreements with Apple. It did so as part of its orchestrated campaign to get to use the App Store without paying Apple, and that campaign led to the years-long legal battle.
It isn’t clear why Epic Games believed that Apple having to allow third-party payment systems meant that it would be able to return “Fortnite” to the App Store.
At the same time, it’s not known why Epic Games does not make a Mac version of the game — since Apple has no control over macOS apps.