May 19 (Reuters) – Epic Games said on Tuesday its popular shooter title “Fortnite” has returned to global App Stores, as the videogame maker signaled confidence in a favorable outcome from an ongoing lawsuit against Apple.
“Once Apple is forced to show its costs, governments around the world will not allow Apple junk fees to stand,” Epic said in a statement.
Epic, a U.S.-based studio backed by China’s Tencent, has been embroiled in a legal battle with Apple since 2020 and alleged that the company’s practice of charging a commission of up to 30% on in-app payments violated U.S. antitrust rules.
“Apple knows the U.S. federal court will force it to be transparent about how it charges its App Store fees,” Epic said.
Last year, “Fortnite” was made available on the App Store in the U.S. after a nearly five-year ban.
“Fortnite”, one of the most popular games in the world, follows a last-man-standing battle royale formula and boasts millions of daily players who spend heavily on in-game currency to buy cosmetics for avatars.
However, Epic earlier this year said it will cut more than 1,000 jobs following a drop in engagement for “Fortnite” due to macroeconomic uncertainty and a challenging spending environment.
Epic said “Fortnite” has not returned to the Australian App Store yet as Apple continues to enforce many developer terms that the court had found unlawful.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)