Mario Bautista
Apple has officially reinstated Fortnite onto the US App Store allowing you to download it to your iPhone or iPad for the first time in over four years. After a lengthy legal process, Epic Games celebrated the return of the game to the US, and it has also restarted the game in markets like Europe after it had to pull the game last week.
Fortnite has been at the center of a legal battle between the two companies where Epic Games has been fighting to avoid the 30% tax Apple takes on revenue made from in-app purchases. In 2020, Epic Games tried to circumvent Apple’s rules and it led to Fortnite being removed from the App Store with the developer then taking legal action.
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In late April, Apple was forced to change its rules on the App Store allowing developers to include alternative payment options in the US for the first time. Since the move, we’ve seen changes to apps from Amazon, Spotify, and more.
Epic Games is the latest to change, and it has allowed the company to offer a better deal for in-app payments. Those who use Epic’s payment method will get 20% cashback on that purchase through the company’s Rewards program. Epic Games said, “You can spend your rewards in Fortnite and our other games, or on the Epic Games Store when you use Epic’s payment system.”
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said, “Thanks to everyone who supported the effort to open up mobile competition and #FreeFortnite from the very beginning. And thanks to all of the folks who initially sided with Apple then later came around to the winning side, supporting app developer rights and consumer rights.”
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You’ll need to search to find the game in the App Store, or you can find it at the number one spot in the Action Games category. It’s highly unlikely we’ll see Apple actively promoting the game.
As reported by the Fortnite Mobile News account on X, some Apple devices allow you to download Fortnite from the App Store but then won’t be able to run the game as the device doesn’t have enough RAM. Those devices include the iPhone SE Gen 2, iPhone XR, iPad Mini 5, iPad Air 3, and the standard iPad generation six through to nine.
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Epic Games submitted the game to Apple’s App Store approval process on May 9, and it hadn’t had a response on May 19. The developer then appealed to the US judge who made the original decision to force Apple to change its rules. Judge Gonzalez Rogers said Apple needed to show the “legal authority upon which Apple contends that it can ignore this Court’s order.”
Apple is awaiting the answer to an appeal on the judge’s decision with a deadline of May 28. Apple is fighting to keep its control over App Store payments as it’s thought to have generated over $10 billion for the company in 2024.
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Source: Fortnite Is Back on iPhone With New Rewards System Included
