Apple brings Fortnite back to the App Store after direct court pressure

On May 21, Apple approved Epic Games’ submission to relaunch Fortnite on both the U.S. and EU App Store — the game is now officially back.

Fortnite was originally removed from the App Store in 2020 following a high-profile dispute over Apple’s commission policies. After a five-year legal battle, Epic Games won the case, and the court ordered Apple to reinstate the app.

• On May 9, 2025, Epic attempted to resubmit Fortnite to iOS, but Apple stalled the process — neither rejecting nor approving the submission. The review dragged on for over 10 days, well beyond the standard 24-hour turnaround.
• Despite the ruling in Epic’s favor, Apple continued to block the app from returning to the U.S. App Store.
• A federal judge then demanded Apple justify its refusal to comply and raised the possibility of contempt of court proceedings.

• Facing potential legal consequences, Apple quickly restored Fortnite — but only in regions where it had lost the case: the U.S. and EU. The game remains unavailable elsewhere.
• Reports suggest Apple was quietly ignoring the submission, hoping its appeal would overturn the original ruling — despite that ruling already being legally binding.