Fortnite returns to USA Apple App Store after nearly 5 years of ban

Fortnite

May 21, 2025

Tarun Sayal

After five years of fighting in court, Fortnite is now available again on the Apple App Store in the United States. Apple has finally approved Epic Games’ battle royale game which has been missing from the App Store since August 2020.

Why did Apple remove Fortnite from the App Store?

Image Credits: Epic Games/Apple

A few years back, Epic decided to bypass Apple’s payment system which charges developers up to 30%. It’s quite obvious that no one wants to pay that huge commission or fee. So instead of allowing purchases through the App Store, Epic told players to buy directly from its system which led Apple to remove Fortnite from the platform.

Apple vs Epic Games Court’s Decision

Thankfully, the court recently decided that Apple’s control over in-app purchases was unjustified. According to a federal judge, Apple could not prevent developers from including external payment links or decide how they are displayed.

Last week, Epic said it had sent Fortnite to the U.S. App Store for review. Nevertheless, Apple took nearly two weeks to give the app its approval. The situation became more serious when Epic filed a lawsuit over the delay. A judge instructed Apple on Monday to either explain the delay or deal with it immediately. The next day, Apple gave its approval to the app.

What’s Apple’s next move?

Fortnite has returned to iPhones and iPads in the U.S., but Apple is still opposing the move. The company is challenging the court’s decision and wants a temporary break from having to implement its new App Store policies. However, it’s worth noting that Apple has not commented on the approval or the appeal to media outlets.

The relaunch of Fortnite is definitely a huge victory for Epic Games, as the Fortnite developers have been battling for years to break Apple’s monopoly over apps and payments. Besides its lawsuits in the U.S., Epic has also tried to get around Apple’s rules in Europe. Since the Digital Markets Act was put into place by the European Union last year, Epic has been able to distribute Fortnite in Europe through third-party app stores.

For the time being, you can play Fortnite on your iOS device from any place in the world. As a result, you can head over to the App Store to download Fortnite on your iPhone or iPad. But since Apple is fighting the latest court order, there’s a chance that things could get even worse at any time.