“Fortnite is BACK on the App Store in the U.S. on iPhones and iPads … and on the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the E.U!
As an upshot of its legal war with Apple, Epic established its own digital store.
Last week, the game went dark on Apple devices the world over, and it remains unavailable on them in many countries.
That appeared to clear the way for Fortnite’s return to the iPhone and iPad, but Epic last week said the video game was still being blocked by Apple.
Gonzalez Rogers on Monday asked why Apple was still blocking Fortnite without an order from the appeals court authorizing that action.
A lengthy ban that was brought on by a legal battle over fees that Apple had been collecting for years through a payment system that the tech giant was forced to modify has ended with the return of the well-known video game Fortnite to the iPhone app store in the US.
In a post on Tuesday, Fortnite, one of the most popular games in the world, celebrated the long-awaited return of its app to the iPhone and iPad. This is the first time the app will be accessible on those devices since it was removed in 2020 for attempting to evade the 15–30% commissions that Apple receives from in-app purchases.
“Fortnite is back in the United States App Store.”. S. Along with the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the E, on iPhones and iPads. “U! It will soon appear in Search!” the game’s official account tweeted. After a legal battle with Apple, Epic opened its own online store.
Just days after its parent company, Epic Games, filed a motion asking a federal judge to order its return as part of a civil contempt of court finding issued against Apple late last month, the video game—which features virtual gunfighting on a digital island—is making a comeback to the iPhone. The game went dark on Apple devices worldwide last week, and in many countries, it is still not available.
Apple said the dispute that had been preventing Fortnite from being included in its iOS software for the iPhone had been settled in a brief statement submitted to the court late Tuesday. A request for additional comment from the Cupertino, California-based company was not immediately answered.
All of this legal wrangling is a part of an ongoing, bitter feud. After a month-long trial, a federal judge in 2021 dismissed Epic’s lawsuit, which claimed Apple had violated the law by turning its app store into an illegal monopoly.
Although US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple was not violating antitrust laws, she did order the company to allow links to other options that might have lower prices and to relax control over in-app payments.
Following a protracted appeal that reached the US Supreme Court, Apple last year implemented a new system that allowed links to other payment methods but still levied a 27 percent commission on in-app purchases made through systems other than its own.
Epic retaliated by accusing Apple of ignoring the legal system, which sparked a new round of court proceedings that lasted almost a year before Gonzalez Rogers delivered her scathing rebuke, which included a prohibition on collecting any kind of commission on alternative payment methods.
Although Epic stated last week that Apple was still blocking the video game, it seemed that this cleared the path for Fortnite to return to the iPhone and iPad. Apple argued that it could continue to use Fortnite while it appealed Gonzalez Rogers’ contempt decision, but Epic pushed the matter by requesting another order from the judge that would explicitly state that the video game should be permitted on the iPhone and iPad once more.
Gonzalez Rogers questioned why Apple continued to block Fortnite on Monday without an appeals court order allowing it to do so. “Apple is fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing,” she said, setting a hearing for May 27 in Oakland, California, to hear Epic’s most recent motion. “.”.
