Apple kicked Fortnite off the App Store nearly five years ago after Epic Games added its own in-app payment system to the game, which violated Apple’s rules. But after a major court ruling in Epic Games v. Apple that forced Apple to not take fees from purchases made outside of apps, the game is available to play on US iPhones once again.
Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Shortly after the big ruling hit, CEO Tim Sweeney said that Epic planned to bring back Fortnite to iOS in the US. He also made 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.“
Late last week, Epic said that Apple had blocked Fortnite’s return to the App Store, and the game also became unavailable on other alternative app stores in the EU. However, Apple said that it had “asked that Epic Sweden resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies” and that “we did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces.”
Epic then asked the judge in the Epic v. Apple case to order Apple to review its Fortnite submission. Yesterday, the judge said in a filing that Apple is “fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing,” and that if a resolution wasn’t reached, the Apple official who “is personally responsible for ensuring compliance” would have to appear at a hearing next Tuesday. Now that Fortnite has returned to the store, it appears that won’t have to happen.
Epic also recently rolled out a new promotion to encourage players to use its payment systems: if you use Epic’s system in Fortnite, Rocket League, or Fall Guys on PC, iOS, Android, and the web, the company will give you 20 percent back in Epic Rewards that can be used for other purchases in its games or on the Epic Games Store. In the iOS version of Fortnite that was released today, the app shows you that 20 percent bonus when you pick which payment system you want to use for V-Bucks.
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