Epic's new motion asks a US district judge to order Apple to approve Fortnite on the US App Store, calling Apple's continued refusal contempt of court
I'm guessing that even if YGR sides with Epic, Apple could get that overriden on appeal, and Fortnite won't be returning to the App Store anytime soon. … X: @epicnewsroom : Yesterday afternoon, Apple broke its week-long silence on the status of our app review with a letter saying they will not act on the Fortnite app submission until the Ninth Circuit Court rules on the partial stay. We believe this violates the Court's Injunction and we have filed Mark Gurman / @markgurman : New: Epic has asked the court to force Apple to approve Fortnite in the U.S. https://www.bloomberg.com/... [image] @epicnewsroom : Here's the letter we received from Apple on May 15th: https://fn.gg/... Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : There are plenty of examples of independent bodies ensuring security, rather than monopoly control by a single corporation motivated to undermine competition. HTTPS security is an example, and has worked fantastically on the web for decades. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Apple is currently blocking Epic Games Sweden's Fortnite notarization despite finding no rule violations, while demanding we revoke our Fortnite submission to the US App Store. We are going back to US court to argue that Apple is again violating the injunction. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : As a result, Fortnite is offline on iOS in the European Union indefinitely despite being distributed through the Epic Games Store there. Apple's abuse of its interlocked web of controls shows that any notarization process must be in the hands of an independent body. Kosta Eleftheriou / @keleftheriou : Apple told Epic it should submit Fortnite for the US through their Swedish account, and Epic did just that. Then Apple changed their mind and said they would not review it until the court ruled. Apple keeps choosing poorly. [image] Kosta Eleftheriou / @keleftheriou : Apple: “If you run to the press and trash us, it never helps.” [image] Graham Dawson / @gpdawson : @EpicNewsroom Can't fathom Apple's legal basis here at all. Apple doesn't deny that Epic Sweden is in DPLA compliance, nor accuses them of being non-compliant with US specific terms for linking out, but then has singled out just the US storefront as somehow denied to them. 🤷♂️ Megan Gray / @megangra : holy shit — Apple tells Epic that it will not put Fortnight into App Store until Ninth Circ rules on stay request. Last I saw, YGR had no such asterick on her court decision. [image] Lukas Gross / @lukasagross : @megangrA Apple terminated the developer account that Epic used to submit Fortnite after they broke the rules. I don't see anything in the injunction(s) that requires Apple to reinstate that account, or let them distribute through their DMA-mandated EU account. Megan Gray / @megangra : @lukasagross and yet that is not the reason that Apple gave @ostynhyss : @markgurman “At Epic, we believe being allowed on the App Store is a fundamental human right” Forums: r/apple : Epic asks judge to make Apple let Fortnite back on the US App Store r/apple : Update from Epic Games r/FortNiteMobile : Update from Epic
Context & Ripple Effects
The motion follows Epic’s report that Apple rejected its latest U.S. Fortnite submission, while Apple says it will await Ninth Circuit action on a partial stay. The dispute turns a long-running fight over App Store rules into an immediate test of how the remedy is enforced during appeal.
The case sits downstream of the appellate outcome left intact when the Supreme Court declined further Apple-Epic review, which allowed developers to direct users to other payment systems. In Europe, Epic’s restored developer access had already enabled its store plans, showing how distribution can hinge on platform review decisions as well as formal legal rights.
First-order effects
- Apple must defend its decision not to act on Fortnite’s U.S. submission before the district court; Epic is seeking an order that would require approval rather than continued review delay.
- Fortnite’s U.S. iOS distribution remains blocked while the motion is resolved, following Epic’s report of the rejected U.S. submission.
Second-order effects
- A ruling for Epic could force Apple to distinguish more clearly between permissible app-review discretion and conduct that frustrates the payment-steering injunction while an appeal is pending.
- Other developers challenging App Store restrictions would gain a more concrete enforcement signal: whether a court remedy can constrain not only payment rules but also the review process used to police access.
Third-order effects
- If courts increasingly scrutinize platform implementation of remedies, app-store governance could shift from broad rule-setting discretion toward ongoing judicial oversight of how distribution decisions are executed.
- The parallel U.S. and EU episodes suggest that access to mobile users is becoming a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction compliance question, with legal rights and operational app approval remaining tightly coupled.
The trend: This is one instance of access-layer power being contested through enforcement fights over whether platform compliance is substantive rather than merely procedural.