What just happened? Epic Games’ five-year-long fight with Apple isn’t showing signs of ending. The company says that Fortnite, which was supposed to return to iOS devices in the US last week, had its submission blocked by Apple. Moreover, the Battle Royale game is now offline worldwide “until Apple unblocks it.”

A post on the official Fortnite X account states, “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.”

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.

– Fortnite (@Fortnite) May 16, 2025

Apple was recently ordered by a federal judge to halt practices that have limited competition and maintained high commissions on app sales. The latter was a reference to the 30% commission Apple takes on purchases that consumers make in iOS apps.

This decision paved the way for Fortnite to return to the iOS App Store in the US and globally – a move Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said would happen last week. Fortnite was removed from the App Store in 2020 after it introduced a direct payment method in the game that circumvented Apple’s App Store commission. It was also removed from the Google Play Store for the same reason.

But Fortnite has still not returned to the US iOS App Store, and now we know why. Fortnite became available again in Europe last year through Epic Games’ own store, made possible by the EU Digital Markets Act permitting third-party app stores. But Epic has now been blocked from distributing it through its own iOS mobile store in the EU and worldwide, according to the post, though the details are unclear.

Hi Tim. How about if you let our mutual customers access Fortnite? Just a thought.

– Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) May 15, 2025

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had found that Apple willfully violated a previous court order designed to open the App Store to greater competition. But instead of allowing developers to push users to external payment systems and avoid its 30% fee, Apple introduced a new system that required apps using these external payment systems to pay a 27% commission. It also warned users that making payments outside of the official App Store posed security risks.

“Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated,” the judge said. “This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order.”

Apple and its vice president of finance, Alex Roman, were referred to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation. Apple asked the US appeals court to pause the ruling in the Epic Games case last week.