Epic's ongoing legal battle with Apple over Fortnite's presence on iOS devices has escalated once again. Epic has accused Apple of blocking its Fortnite submission, preventing the game from being released on the U.S. App Store.

Earlier this month, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced that Fortnite would soon return to the U.S. iOS App Store and iPhones following a significant court ruling. On April 30, a U.S. Federal District Court in California ruled that Apple had wilfully violated a court order in the Epic Games v. Apple case. The order required Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment methods outside their apps.

Epic's Tim Sweeney remains resolute in his fight against Apple and Google, vowing to continue the battle for as long as necessary. Photo by SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg. In January, IGN reported on Sweeney's substantial investment—billions of dollars—in challenging Apple and Google's app store policies. Sweeney views this as a long-term investment in Epic and Fortnite's future, confident that Epic can sustain the fight for decades.

Sweeney's efforts to bring Fortnite back to iPhones and Android phones without paying the standard 30% store fees are well-documented. Epic prefers to distribute Fortnite through its own Epic Games Store, bypassing Apple and Google's fees. This dispute led to Fortnite's removal from iOS in 2020.

Despite Sweeney's recent tweet suggesting an imminent return to iOS, Fortnite remains unavailable. Epic has now issued a statement to IGN, revealing 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's ruling, Apple was referred to federal prosecutors for violating the U.S. 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 referred Apple and its vice president of finance, Alex Roman, to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation due to misleading testimony about Apple's compliance with the injunction. In response, Apple stated, "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 in the Epic Games case.