Fortnite Returns to Google Play Store After Extended Legal Battle

Fortnite has made a comeback to Google's Play Store, Epic Games announced on Friday. This marks its return to the Mountain View company's platform after a five-year legal battle, which began in 2020, when Epic Games filed a lawsuit in the US against Google and Apple's platform fees rules. The two companies, which command a significant market share, were found to be in violation of the country's anti-competition laws in 2023. While Apple allowed Fortnite's return to the App Store in May, Google's appeal against the 2023 judgement was pending in the US Federal Court, which was recently rejected.

Fortnite Returns to Google Play Store, But Only in the US

In a post on X, developer Epic Games announced that its multiplayer game, Fortnite, has returned to the Play Store in the US. This means that the game is now available on both major smartphone platforms, Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store. The development comes more than two months after San Francisco's 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals refused to overturn a judgement pronounced by a jury and the US Federal Court, which asked the company to change its platform fees policy.

While the judgement was read in favour of Epic Games in 2023, Google was able to file an appeal against it only in 2025. In its appeal, the Mountain View-based tech giant reportedly claimed that the earlier verdict “unfairly benefited” the Fortnite developer, Epic Games. However, the company was unable to convince the Federal Court that there was merit in its case, legally binding it to allow Fortnite's return.

Epic Games was entangled in a legal battle with the two tech giants for over five years, initially protesting and filing a lawsuit against Apple and Google in the US in 2020 over their platform fees rules. Apple was infamously levying a 30 percent fee or commission on the in-game transactions, which developers claimed were impacting their financials, while also violating the US antitrust laws.

To avoid these charges, developers started redirecting their users to an external payment gateway to complete their in-game purchases, which resulted in Fortnite getting banned for allegedly violating App Store rules.

After numerous hearings, a District Court in the US ruled in Epic Games' favour, paving the way for its return. Later in May, a federal court judge reiterated the earlier judgement, reprimanding the tech giant for continuing the virtual blockade. On May 16, Epic Games said in a post on X that Apple has blocked its Fortnite submission to the US App Store. However, this was temporary, and the multiplayer game was soon made available on the App Store.