As a result of the latest courthouse ruling, Epic Games’ Fortnite has returned to the Apple App Store for the first time in five years.
The ongoing legal battle between Epic Games and Apple is seemingly winding down after it started in 2020. Earlier this month, Epic Games won a landmark ruling where U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple to cease applying its 27 per cent commission on the App Store. This was after Apple was found to have willfully violated a court injunction in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games, and after that ruling was reached in the beginning of May, fans speculated that meant the return of Fortnite to the App Store. Today, the Battle Royale is back on the App Store after five years of being banned off of it.
Just after the ruling earlier in the month, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted to his official X (formerly Twitter) account stating “We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week. Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic” showing solidarity with the decision, and extending an olive branch to Apple. Today, Sweeney writes “we back fam.”
Since Fortnite has been restored to the platform, it has already climbed to the top of App Store charts. After many weeks topping the “Free Games” category on the App Store, Roblox has now fallen to second place to Fortnite due to the title being brought back to the App Store.
Although Epic Games’ flagship Battle Royale title has returned to the iOS platform, Apple has yet to make a statement regarding the title’s return. iOS users can also dive in to the new Star Wars collaboration that is still ongoing in the Season Pass.
