Epic’s super-popular free-to-play battle royale game, Fortnite, is finally available to download and play on the iOS App Store in the United States after it was kicked out in 2020. This big comeback follows some serious pressure from a federal judge who really wanted Apple to let Fortnite back on its digital marketplace.
Federal judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has been all up in this court battle from the beginning, said Apple can’t take a cut from purchases made outside of apps anymore. She also said Apple can’t stop developers from using third-party payment options. Epic was like, “Cool, now we can use our own payment system,” so they announced Fortnite was coming back to the App Store in the US. But Apple, who’s not happy about the ruling, didn’t want to let Fortnite back in the usual way. So Epic was like, “Yo, court, can you help us out here?” Judge Rogers then told Apple they better get it together or they’ll end up in court again. Seems like Apple didn’t want that smoke, so now Fortnite is back on the App Store after a long 1,741 days.
Apple, always wanting a piece of the pie, is appealing the judge’s orders to keep control over their App Store money. They have the cash to keep this legal battle going, so don’t be surprised if this fight between Epic and Apple goes on for a while. But for now, gamers can finally get back to playing Fortnite on their iPhones and iPads. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney was like, “We back fam,” when the game went live on the App Store. Who knows what’s next in this saga, but for now, at least the players are happy to have their favorite game back on their devices.
