“Fortnite” Returns to U.S. iPhones After Nearly Five Years
Gamers, rejoice! The wildly popular battle royale game Fortnite is back on Apple’s App Store in the United States after nearly five years of absence. Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite and a U.S.-based studio backed by China’s Tencent, confirmed the game’s return, marking a significant victory for the company in its long-standing dispute with Apple.
The saga began in 2020 when Epic Games took legal action against Apple, challenging the tech giant’s policy of charging up to a 30% commission on in-app purchases. Epic argued that this practice violated U.S. antitrust laws by stifling competition and limiting options for developers and consumers alike.
Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that Apple was in violation of a court order that required the company to allow more competition in its App Store. The judge noted that Apple had failed to comply with a prior injunction and referred the company to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers questioned Apple’s continued ban of Fortnite without authorization from the appeals court. By Tuesday, Apple acknowledged that the dispute keeping Fortnite off its iOS devices had been resolved.
“We back fam,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced on social media platform X, signaling the return of Fortnite to eager fans.
First launched in 2017, Fortnite quickly became a global phenomenon, attracting millions of players with its engaging gameplay and vibrant community. Before the ban, the game had amassed 116 million users on Apple’s platform alone.
The return of Fortnite has significant implications for both Epic Games and Apple. Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, commented, “For Epic Games, this was a hard-fought win that carried a very steep price and may be too late to boost its Fortnite game that is now past its prime.”
For Apple, the decision introduces new challenges to its services business model, which relies heavily on commissions from the App Store. Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors, noted that this development could allow subscription apps like Spotify and Netflix to monetize without paying extra commissions to Apple, potentially reshaping the economics of iOS over the next year.
While Fortnite had already returned to Android devices and iPhones in the European Union last year, its comeback in the U.S. marks a pivotal moment in the tech industry, highlighting the ongoing debates over app store policies and developers’ rights.
