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🙌 Fortnite is finally back on Apple's iOS store in the US after a five year legal battle
🤝 The two firms filed a joint notice stating that they have “resolved all issues” from an earlier filing
😤 Apple first pulled Fortnite five years ago in response to Epic Games adding a direct in-game purchase option to circumvent the 30 percent fee Apple and Google charges on in-app purchases
📈 Fortnite has since risen to become the top free game on iOS in the US
After a five year legal battle between Epic Games and Apple, Fortnite is finally back on iOS devices including iPhone and iPad.
According to The Verge, both companies filed a joint notice stating that they have “resolved all issues” from a filing on May 16.
The truce comes after a “peace proposal” was offered by Epic at the start of May, though Apple later blocked Fortnite returning to the App Store on US devices. In response to this, Epic asked the judge to order Apple to review its submission on May 16.
The judge returned yesterday, May 20, with the verdict that Apple should be “fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or hearing”, and that if a resolution wasn't reached, then the Apple official responding for “ensuring compliance” would have to appear at a hearing next Tuesday.
Fortnite's blocking by Apple in the US delayed a recent game update, forcing all versions to be taken down, in spite of it already returning to devices in the European Union.
Apple and Epic’s legal feud goes back five years when Epic added a direct in-game payment option to Fortnite to get around the in-app purchase options offered by Apple and Google, from which they take a 30 percent cut. In response, Apple pulled Fortnite from its App Store and a public fallout followed.
A verdict on the case was finally reached earlier this month, finding Apple in “wilful violation” of the US District Court of Northern California's previous injunction that was designed to prohibit Apple's “anti competitive conduct and anti competitive pricing”.
The aforementioned injunction caused Apple to allow purchases from outside websites, which it agreed to with the levy of a 27 percent fee. The court argued that this move was to “dissuade customer usage of alternative purchase opportunities and maintain its anti competitive revenue stream.”
Fortnite has since risen to become the top free game on iOS in the US, with a joyful reception from Epic's boss Tim Sweeney with a post on X that said, “Thanks to everyone who supported the effort to open up mobile competition and #FreeFortnite from the very beginning. And thanks to all of the folks who initially sided with Apple then later came around to the winning side, supporting app developer rights and consumer rights.”
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.
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