The popular game Fortnite is back on the US App Store after a 5-year legal battle with Apple, and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tells Business Insider it represents a “priceless” win for app makers everywhere.
While the game quickly shot to the top of the App Store’s games rankings less than 24 hours after launching, its reappearance was years in the making — and costly for Epic, which makes the game. Sweeney previously told BI’s Peter Kafka that his fight with Apple over in-app purchases has cost it more than $1 billion since 2020.
Prior to the legal feud, Apple’s App Store rules required that Fortnite players — and all other iOS users — make in-app purchases exclusively through the App Store, where Apple takes up to a 30% cut of each transaction. In the summer of 2020, Epic intentionally broke these rules, prompting Apple to remove Fortnite from iPhones and iPads, which in turn sparked Epic’s lawsuit.
In an email exchange with BI after Fortnite went live on the US App Store, we asked Sweeney if the protracted court battle and legal fees were worth it.
“Yes,” he said. “These newly recognized freedoms are priceless.”
“The freedoms developers have gained in the United States and Europe on iOS must be brought to the rest of the world,” Sweeney told BI. “I hold out hope of Apple and Google doing that themselves, proactively, rather than being subject to waiting for different and potentially contradictory new laws to be passed around the world.”
Epic Games is in a similar legal battle with Google over its app store rules.
The US App Store approval came after US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers scheduled a May 27 hearing to address what Epic said was Apple’s noncompliance with a prior injunction, questioning Apple’s delay in approving Epic Games’ May 9 submission for Fortnite’s return to the US App Store.
A representative for Epic Games declined to comment further. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider. The company has previously said its App Store rules regarding payments help ensure the safety of its users.
Asked about the latest on his legal battle with Apple, Sweeney said it’s ongoing.
“Apple is appealing the Court’s anti-steering injunction enforcement ruling made in 2025 but the Court’s ruling hasn’t been stayed and appeal briefings will run through August 18,” he said.
Spotify, Microsoft, and others backed Epic’s opposition to Apple’s motion to stay the court’s ruling in amicus briefs filed this week, arguing that Apple’s compliance with the order is beneficial to both developers and consumers.
