Following today’s court verdict that blew a rather large hole through Apple’s grubby mitts, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced that Fortnite will be returning to the iOS App Store in the US next week.
The game has been off the store for over four years at this point following some back and forth shenanigans between Apple and Epic, where Epic decided to protest Apple’s 30% in-app purchase tax by adding its own in-app payment system within the game that bypassed Apple’s. Since this was an obvious (and planned) breach of App Store guidelines, Apple removed the game from the store, even though the game was wildly popular at the time. Epic immediately announced it was suing Apple and also released a series of anti-Apple videos.
We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week.
Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic. https://t.co/bIRTePm0Tv
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) April 30, 2025
Four years later, Epic seems to have gotten what it asked for, which is to allow developers to use their own payment systems free of Apple’s commission as well as scare tactics towards its users. Sweeney also said in his X post that as a peace offering, Epic Games will drop all current and future litigation on the topic if Apple extends the US court’s decision worldwide.
Considering Apple has already gone on record stating that it will appeal the US court’s decision, it’s unlikely that Sweeney’s offer will be accepted. However, with an Apple VP being found lying on the record to the court, Apple’s chances of overturning the decision seem somewhat slim at the moment.
