“Fortnite” maker Epic Games said Friday that Apple has blocked its latest attempt to bring back the popular video game in the US version of its App Store.
The Fortnite app is also unavailable on Apple devices in the European Union, despite previously being downloadable there through the Epic Games store. Epic pinned the download failures in Europe on Apple as well.
“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,” Epic Games said in a post on Fortnite’s X account. “Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”
Epic Games did not immediately return a request for further comment.
Fortnite has originally blocked from the US App Store in 2020, kicking off the ongoing years-long legal feud between Apple and Epic Games, which accused the iPhone maker of antitrust violations. The video game was made available on Apple devices in Europe last year due to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which required Apple to allow downloads in third-party app stores.
Epic Games and its CEO Tim Sweeney resubmitted the video game for reinstatement last week.
Sweeney had said the company would use a Sweden-based Epic Games account to submit Fortnite for reinstatement in the US.
Apple pushed back on Epic’s claims in a statement.
“We asked that Epic Sweden resubmit the app update without including the U.S. storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies,” an Apple spokesperson said. “We did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces.”
The resubmission came after US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’s explosive ruling last month that Apple had violated a 2021 injunction order to open up its App Store.
In her ruling, Rogers said CEO Tim Cook “chose poorly” by directing employees to defy the previous injunction and that vice president of finance Alex Roman had “outright lied” under oath – and referred the company for potential criminal charges.
Rogers also slapped Apple with fresh orders to stop charging a 27% fee on rivals like Epic who direct customers to make purchases outside the App Store and end restrictions on where developers can place links that lead customers away from the App Store.
Apple has asked a federal appeals court in California to pause Rogers’ ruling, claiming it would cost the company “billions” of dollars annually if left in place.
Meanwhile, Epic Games’ Sweeney had hinted at some difficulties with the Fortnite submission earlier this week, noting that his company had pulled its previous submission and submitted an updated version due to a pending software update.
“Apple’s App Review team should be free to review all submitted apps promptly and accept or reject according to the plain language of their guidelines,” Sweeney said in an X post on Thursday. “App Review shouldn’t be weaponized by senior management as a tool to delay or obstruct competition, due process, or free speech.”
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