Almost five years after the game was removed from the App Store, triggering a legal dispute that rocked the mobile gaming world and has been grinding on ever since, Fortnite appears close to a return. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, says the popular game could be back on Apple’s platforms as soon as tomorrow.
Late last month, a judge severely reprimanded Apple and insisted that it comply with an earlier order to allow external purchase links in apps, the issue which caused the original bust-up with Epic. In light of this ruling, Sweeney pledged that the game would return to the U.S. App Store beginning “next week.” That week is now almost over, and in multiple appearances and social media posts since (as reported by AppleInsider), he has reiterated his hope and expectation that Fortnite will return to Apple’s mobile devices.
On May 3, Sweeney tweeted that Epic had spoken with Apple about Fortnite‘s restoration to the App Store, and (since the U.S. account was banned) planned to use a Swedish App Store account to submit it for approval. In an appearance Tuesday on the Channels podcast, meanwhile, he insisted he would “be very surprised if Apple took action to block it. I can’t imagine Apple blocking Fortnite at this point.”
Of course, we’ve heard this sort of thing before. At the start of 2023, we covered a cryptic tweet by Sweeney suggesting that the game would be back on the App Store by the end of that year. Perhaps he was referring to its reappearance on Apple devices in the EU, which happened in the second half of 2024, but was possible only because of the EU’s position on third-party stores—the game didn’t actually return to any official App Stores. Epic has been consistently bullish through this saga, but not always with good cause.
We await the latest developments. But if the game doesn’t come back to the App Store after all, do not fret. There remain ways to play Fortnite on the iPhone and iPad regardless.