Fortnite Returns to App Store for iPhone, iPad Globally After Apple-Epic Legal Battle

Fortnite is now available on the App Store for the iPhone and iPad for users around the world. The battle royale title, developed by Epic Games, was initially pulled from the App Store in August 2020 following Epic Games' introduction of an alternative payment method that, as Apple alleged, bypassed its commission fees model. Following years of legal battles between the two companies over payment policies and developer restrictions, Fortnite has officially returned to the App Store.

Fortnite Back on the App Store

In a blog post, Epic Games said the decision to bring Fortnite back to iOS globally was influenced by increasing regulatory pressure against Apple's App Store practices in regions such as the EU, Japan, and the UK. However, the battle royale game still remains unavailable on the Australian App Store due to ongoing legal proceedings there.

As per the company, Apple recently told the US Supreme Court that regulators around the world are monitoring the case to determine what commission rates Apple should be allowed to charge in major markets outside the US. Epic Games claimed that this development underscores the company's belief that international regulators will ultimately compel Apple to provide greater transparency regarding its App Store commission structures and billing policies.

Epic further noted that it continues to oppose what it describes as Apple's “anticompetitive” App Store policies. This particularly applies to rules surrounding third-party app stores and alternative payment systems. The company has also asked the Australian court to order Apple to stop enforcing such policies and introduce terms that would benefit both app developers and iOS users.

This development follows the arrival of Fortnite on the Google Play Store for Android in March, which eliminated the need to sideload the game using the Epic Games launcher.

Epic said Fortnite on iOS is currently supported on devices including the iPhone 11 series and newer models, iPhone SE (3rd generation) and newer, alongside supported iPad models such as the iPad Pro 10.5-inch and later, iPad Air (4th generation) and newer, and the iPad mini (6th generation) onwards.