Epic's ongoing battle with Apple over the future of Fortnite on iOS devices has escalated, with Epic now accusing Apple of blocking its Fortnite submission, preventing the game's release on the U.S. App Store.
Earlier this month, Epic's CEO Tim Sweeney announced that Fortnite would soon return to the U.S. iOS App Store following a significant court ruling. On April 30, a U.S. Federal District Court in California ruled that Apple had wilfully violated a court order in the Epic Games v. Apple case. This order mandated that Apple allow developers to offer alternative in-app purchase methods.
Epic's Tim Sweeney remains steadfast in his mission to challenge Apple and Google, no matter the duration of the fight. Photo by SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg. In January, IGN reported on Sweeney's substantial financial commitment to this battle, highlighting his expenditure of billions of dollars in the fight against Apple and Google's app store policies. Sweeney views this as a long-term investment in Epic and Fortnite's future, confident that Epic can sustain the legal battle for decades.
The core of Sweeney’s dispute with Apple and Google revolves around the 30% store fees imposed on mobile game revenues. Epic aims to bypass these fees by operating Fortnite through its own Epic Games Store on mobile platforms. This conflict led to Fortnite's removal from iOS devices back in 2020.
Despite Sweeney's recent announcement, Fortnite has yet to return to iOS, prompting Epic to issue a statement to IGN:
“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”
This situation is dire for Epic, which has missed out on billions in revenue since Fortnite was removed from iPhones five years ago. In response, Tim Sweeney has publicly appealed to Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, via Twitter:“Hi Tim. How about if you let our mutual customers access Fortnite? Just a thought.”
Hi Tim. How about if you let our mutual customers access Fortnite? Just a thought.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) May 15, 2025
Following the court's decision, Apple was referred to federal prosecutors for violating the U.S. court order. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers emphasized, "Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated. This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order."
The judge also referred Apple and its vice president of finance, Alex Roman, to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation due to misleading testimony about Apple's compliance with the injunction.
In response, Apple stated, "we strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal." Last week, Apple requested that the U.S. appeals court pause the ruling in the Epic Games case.
