By Michael Lietke
The popular video game Fortnite has returned to the US iPhone App Store to end the prolonged asylum caused by a legal showdown against the lucrative fees it had collected for years through a payment system that Apple had been forced to change.
Fortnite welcomed the long-awaited repair of the app to its long-awaited iPhone and iPad in a post on Tuesday, making it available for the first time on these devices as Apple was banished in 2020 in an attempt to avoid the 15% to 30% commission it collects in in-app transactions.
The video game, featuring a virtual battle on the Digital Island, returned to the iPhone a few days after parent company Epic Games filed a motion to a federal judge to order the return of the item as part of a civil contagion of a court discovery issued against Apple late last month.
In a brief statement filed late Tuesday in court, Apple said the dispute that protected Fortnite from iPhone iOS software had been resolved. The Cupertino, California company did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
All legal battles are part of a bitter feud that is still boiling down.
Epic has filed a lawsuit alleging that Apple has turned the App Store into an illegal monopoly. This is an allegation that it was lost under a 2021 ruling, made by a federal judge, after a month’s trial.
She determined that Apple had not violated antitrust laws, but US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered the company to loosen its control of in-app payments and allow links to other options that could offer a lower price.
After running out of appeals it had made to the U.S. Supreme Court last year, Apple opened the door to linking to alternative payment options, while also introducing a new system that charged a 27% fee for in-app transactions performed outside its own system.
The epic was fired for claiming Apple was squashing its nose in the legal system, reviving another round of court hearings that lasted almost a year ago before Gonzalez Rogers made her stinging b-responsibility, including a ban on all sorts of committee collections on alternative payment options.
It seemed like Fortnite was clearing its path to returning to the iPhone and iPad, but last week Epic said the video games are still blocked by Apple. After claiming that it was still permissible to maintain Fortnite while Apple pursued the allegation of Gonzalez Rogers’ light empty ruling, Epic forced the issue by asking the judge for another order that made it clear that video games would be allowed on the iPhone and iPad.
On Monday, Gonzalez Rogers asked why Apple is still blocking Fortnite without allowing the case without an order from the Court of Appeal. She said, “Apple can completely resolve this issue without further briefings or hearings,” as she listens to Epic’s latest moves, with a May 27th hearing.
Original issue: May 21, 2025, 2:08pm EDT
