A recent court ruling found Apple illegally charged fees on purchases made outside its iOS app ecosystem, violating a previous injunction. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers expressed that Apple's actions could lead to contempt proceedings. In response, Epic Games' CEO Tim Sweeney announced Fortnite's potential return to the App Store, contingent on Apple's compliance with removing the third-party payment fees. The situation is precarious, as the game's availability hinges on Apple's approval, which remains uncertain amid ongoing tensions between the companies.
Gonzalez Rogers is looking at potential criminal contempt proceedings for Apple's violations; she also says in the document that Apple vice president of finance "outright lied under oath" when asked about the 27% fees.
Following the decision, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X to announce that Epic Games will "return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week." Further, if Apple removes the third-party payment fee worldwide, Epic Games will put Fortnite back on the iOS App Store globally and "drop current and future litigation on the topic."
The one caveat in Fortnite's return to the iOS App Store is that, like every other app, Apple needs to approve it before it's available to the public.
"We just have to see what Apple does," Sweeney said. "Apple could arbitrarily reject Epic from the App Store despite us following all of the rules. But, you know, they would have to deal with various consequences of that."
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