After six years, Fortnite finally returns to Apple's App Store in most countries, but the legal battle continues

If you’ve enjoyed over half a decade without your sprog burning out your phone battery on Fortnite, I have terrible news: it’s back. Yes, in a surprise new twist in the long-running Epic Games vs Apple case, the hit battle royale game has returned to the App Store in most regions – sorry, Australia, not you. The move comes as Epic prepares for what it’s calling “the final battle” against Apple, with which it has had some major beef regarding App Store fees.

“Fortnite is now back on the App Store worldwide,” a statement from Epic reads, “after Apple told the U.S. Supreme Court that ‘regulators around the world are watching this case to determine what commission rate Apple may charge on covered purchases in huge markets outside the United States.'”

“Apple knows the U.S. federal court will force it to be transparent about how it charges its App Store fees,” it continues. “Fortnite is returning to the App Store now because we are confident that once Apple is forced to show its costs, governments around the world will not allow Apple junk fees to stand.” Fortnite’s return to iOS is accompanied by an Apple-style parody, shared to socials.

Branding Apple’s prohibitive approach to third-party app stores and payment methods “anticompetitive,” Epic says that it’s “seen momentum around the world to address these practices, with regulators passing laws in Japan, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.” However, it claims that “time and time again Apple has evaded the laws with scare screens, fees and onerous requirements.”

Epic says the return to court is to ensure regulators “truly enforce the laws, so developers and consumers around the world can benefit from an open and fair mobile app ecosystem.” I personally think this is primarily motivated by not having to pay Apple’s hefty fees, rather than something altruistic. But, hey, if it helps developers, then it helps developers. Even though Epic says it “won” its case in Australia, the firm claims Apple continued to enforce developer terms the court found to be “unlawful,” hence the hold-out. As such, don’t expect to be able to check out the Overwatch collab any time soon on iOS if you’re down under.

Dustin did a cracking write-up for the site back in 2020, explaining the situation between the two in great detail. The quick and short of it is that Epic set up its own proprietary payment system within the Fortnite app, bypassing Apple and its 30% purchase cut. Naturally, this circumnavigation was deemed a violation of the App Store’s Ts and Cs, and both Epic and Fortnite were cut off.

Epic wasn’t best pleased, taking Apple to court on the allegations that it was anticompetitive and monopolistic. The judge ruled in favor of Apple almost unilaterally, though Epic did get its punches in. Most notably, an injunction against Apple prohibits it from preventing links to third-party payment processors within games and apps on the App Store. Six years later, the battle rages on, and it’ll be fascinating to see who comes out on top.