The current quest to return Fortnite to the Apple App Store met another road dam. After delaying the last 24 -hour update, Epic Games officially confirmed that Fortnite’s submission had been blocked by Apple.
“We cannot go out in the American App Store or at the Epic Games store for iOS in the European Union,” read the declaration on the official Twitter account of Fortnite at 5 a.m. on May 16, just an hour after the start of the time of arrest for the update of the V35.10.
Apple blocked our Fortnite submission so that we cannot release the American App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, unfortunately, Fortnite on iOS will be offline in the world until Apple unlocks it.
– Fortnite (@fortnite) May 16, 2025
The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, was active on social networks throughout the last week of publication of everything, of the original decision which opened the door on the return from Fortnite to iOS to the Fortnite false clones which were available on the platform. Although the executive has republished the Fortnite declaration and other journalists sharing the news, he has not yet comments on this last development.
The only other position with whom Sweeney has been committed since the news was announced by the Naval X user, simply declaring “Apple continues to make fun of the court”.
Yesterday evening, before the delayed update, Sweeney had published that “the examination of applications should not be armed by senior management”.
The Apple Application Examination team should be free to examine all the applications subject quickly and to accept or reject according to the clear language of their directives. Examination of applications should not be armed by senior management as a tool to delay or hinder competition, regular procedure or freedom of expression. https://t.co/vauhwntrn
– Tim Sweeney (@timsweeneyepic) May 16, 2025
While Fortnite has not been available in the United States since it had been withdrawn from the App Store in 2020, the game was always available to be played on iPhone in Europe using the Epic Games store due to the EU allocation of third-party application stores.
Apple has not yet commented throughout the approval process in the past few weeks. Now it remains to be seen how the iPhone manufacturer, Epic, and perhaps the courts will react.
The delays on the side of Apple have already delayed an update once. According to Tim Sweeney, all Fortnite versions must update at the same time, so another delay could have major ramifications if it affects the possibility for mobile players to train before a cash Cup or FNCS tournament.
However, today’s news has an additional impact on all EU compatitas by playing on iPhone because they are entirely unable to participate in matches or to practice on their favorite device.
