Epic Claims Apple Blocks Fortnite's U.S. App Store Return, Sweeney Tweets Cook

The ongoing battle between Epic Games and Apple over the future of Fortnite on iOS devices has escalated, with Epic accusing Apple of blocking its Fortnite submission, preventing the game from being released to 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 willfully violated a court order in the Epic Games v. Apple case. This order required Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment methods outside of their apps.

Epic's Tim Sweeney remains committed to challenging Apple and Google, no matter the duration of the fight. Photo by SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg. In January, IGN reported on Sweeney's extensive financial commitment to combatting Apple and Google's app store policies, amounting to billions of dollars. Sweeney views this as a long-term investment in Epic and Fortnite's future, confident that Epic can sustain this battle for decades.

Sweeney's struggle to bring Fortnite back to iOS and Android devices, bypassing the standard 30% store fees, is well-documented. Epic aims to distribute Fortnite through its own Epic Games Store, avoiding the fees imposed by Apple and Google. This conflict led to Fortnite's exclusion from iOS back in 2020.

Despite Sweeney's recent announcement, Fortnite has yet to return to iOS. Epic has now stated to IGN that "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."

Hi Tim. How about if you let our mutual customers access Fortnite? Just a thought.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) May 15, 2025

Following the court ruling, Apple was referred to federal prosecutors for violating the court order. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated, "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, citing misleading testimony regarding Apple's compliance with her injunction.

In response, Apple issued a statement: "We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal." Last week, Apple requested a pause on the ruling from the U.S. appeals court.