Fortnite has returned to the Google Play Store, Epic Games announced on Friday. This marks Epic Games’ return to the Mountain View company’s platform after a five-year legal battle that began in 2020 as it filed suit against Google and Apple over their platform charging rules. The two companies, which hold significant market shares, were found to have violated the country’s anti-competition laws in 2023. While Apple allowed “Fortnite” to return to the App Store in May, Google’s appeal against the 2023 ruling is still pending in a U.S. federal court, but the appeal was recently dismissed.
Fortnite is back on the Google Play Store, but only in the US
In a post on X, developer Epic Games announced that its multiplayer game Fortnite has returned to the US Play Store. This means the game is now available on the two major smartphone platforms, Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. More than two months ago, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco declined to overturn a jury and U.S. federal court decision requiring the company to change its platform charging policy.
Although the 2023 verdict was in favor of Epic Games, Google did not appeal it until 2025. The Mountain View-based tech giant reportedly claimed in its appeal that the earlier ruling “unfairly benefited” Fortnite developer Epic Games. However, the company was unable to convince a federal court that its case had merit, making it legally binding to allow Fortnite to return.
Epic Games has been entangled in a legal dispute with the two tech giants for more than five years, initially protesting against Apple and Google and filing a lawsuit against Apple and Google in the United States in 2020 over its platform charging rules. Apple infamously imposes a 30% fee or commission on in-game transactions, which developers claim affects their finances while also violating U.S. antitrust laws.
To avoid these fees, developers began redirecting users to external payment gateways to complete in-game purchases, which led to Fortnite being banned for allegedly violating App Store rules.
After multiple hearings, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of Epic Games, paving the way for Epic Games’ return. Later in May, a federal court judge reiterated an earlier ruling, condemning the tech giant for continuing virtual lockdowns. On May 16, Epic Games posted on X that Apple had blocked its “Fortnite” from being submitted to the US App Store. However, this was only temporary and multiplayer was soon made available on the App Store.
