Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney today said that Fortnite will return to the U.S. App Store next week, and he offered a “peace proposal” with a pledge to bring Fortnite back to iOS worldwide if Apple follows certain steps.
“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,” Sweeney wrote.
Earlier today, Apple was found to be willfully violating a 2021 anti-steering injunction that was put in place as part of its legal battle with Epic Games. In a strongly worded ruling, the judge overseeing the case ordered Apple to immediately change its App Store rules.
Apple must drop all of its anti-steering policies. The company is no longer allowed to prevent developers from letting customers know about options to purchase subscriptions and content outside of the App Store. Apple cannot control link placement, the language that developers use to direct customers to make purchases outside of an app, or the style that developers use for communicating non in-app purchase options.
Further, Apple is not able to charge fees or collect commission for any purchases made outside of an app.
The ruling is a significant blow to Apple. After the injunction was put into place in 2021, Apple had a three year reprieve as it appealed, but ultimately the company was required to make changes in 2024. Apple ultimately allowed developers a single link to direct customers outside of the App Store, and collected between 12 and 27 percent in fees for purchases made from those links.
Epic Games accused Apple of violating the anti-steering injunction after the new rules were put in place, and requested that the court find Apple in contempt. The judge sided with Epic Games, and decided that Apple’s solution did not go far enough to address its anticompetitive behavior.
Apple will not be able to delay making rule changes to the U.S. App Store based on the wording of the ruling, and Epic Games is proposing that Apple extend those changes worldwide. If Apple does so, Epic Games will drop all litigation.
