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

Epic Games' ongoing legal battle with Apple over the distribution of Fortnite on iOS devices has escalated, with Epic accusing Apple of blocking its latest Fortnite submission, preventing its release on 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 favorable 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 their apps.

Epic's Tim Sweeney remains committed to challenging Apple and Google, vowing to continue the fight for as long as necessary. Photo by SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg. In January, IGN highlighted how Sweeney has invested billions in this legal battle against Apple and Google's app store policies. Sweeney views this as a crucial long-term investment for Epic and Fortnite, confident that the company can sustain the fight for decades.

The core of Epic's dispute with Apple and Google centers around the 30% store fees imposed on mobile game revenue. Epic prefers to distribute Fortnite through its own Epic Games Store, avoiding these fees. This disagreement led to Fortnite's exclusion from iOS back in 2020.

Despite expectations following Sweeney's tweet, Fortnite has not yet returned to iOS. Epic recently updated IGN, stating, "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."

This situation is dire for Epic, which has seen significant revenue losses since Fortnite was removed from iPhones five years ago. Sweeney has taken to Twitter to directly appeal to Apple CEO Tim Cook, tweeting, "Hi Tim. How about if you let our mutual customers access Fortnite? Just a thought."

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 faced further legal repercussions. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers referred Apple and its finance vice president, Alex Roman, to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation. The judge criticized Apple's compliance efforts, stating, "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."

Apple responded to the court's decision with a statement, expressing disagreement but compliance, and announced plans to appeal. Last week, Apple requested a pause on the ruling from the U.S. appeals court in the Epic Games case.