After more than 4 years, Fortnite is coming back to iOS in the US, and Epic has a "peace proposal" for Apple which could see the battle royale return to the App Store worldwide

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Fortnite will be back on iOS next week for players in the United States

Key art for Fortnite OG Chapter 1: Season 1.
(Image credit: Epic Games)

Fortnite is set to return to the iOS App Store in the United States next week, over four years after it was removed. This comes as Epic Games "puts forth a peace proposal" to Apple following the latest developments in its legal battle, which could also see it return to the mobile platform worldwide.

Epic and Apple have been engaged in a legal battle since 2020, following the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. The argument basically all goes back to the fact that Apple generally takes a 30% cut on both apps and in-app purchases (it's sometimes 15%, depending on if you qualify for its "Small Business" program).

As a result of this, in 2020, Epic introduced a new change to its battle royale, which it explains "gave Fortnite players on iOS and Google Play a choice between Apple/Google payment and Epic direct payment, passing on savings to direct purchasers." After this, the battle royale got pulled from the platform, and the rest is history.

The latest development as of yesterday, April 30, is that a judge has ruled that Apple is allegedly "in willful violation of this Court's 2021 Injunction which issued to restrain and prohibit Apple's anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing." Furthermore, it's stated that "effective immediately Apple will no longer impede developers' ability to communicate with users nor will they levy or impose a new commission on off-app purchases."

Following this, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has taken to Twitter, announcing: "We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week.

"Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court's friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we'll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic."

Fortnite already returned to iOS in the European Union last year via its mobile Epic Games Store app, as a result of the Digital Markets Act, so this is the next big step for the battle royale's mobile comeback. Whether it'll get that worldwide rollout eventually remains to be seen, but for now this is a huge win for any fans in the US.

For more games like Fortnite, be sure to check out our roundup of the best battle royale games.

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Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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