Apple: Fortnite won't be back in the iOS App Store anytime soon, iPhone users may have to wait years to play the game again

After the game developer and publisher Epic Games has recently celebrated a partial victory in its court case against Apple, many players have been hoping that Fortnite, the central object of the legal battle, will now be available to download and play on Apple's smartphones like the recently announced iPhone 13 (from US$829 on Amazon) very soon. According to a report by MacRumors, these hopes and dreams have now been shattered.

The lawyers that are representing the iPhone maker have announced that Apple intends to wait until the judgement in the legal battle, including all appeals, is final. Due to the complexity of the case, it could possibly take years until the legal courts will come to such a nonappealable judgement. In the meantime, Fortnite fans and prospective buyers of a new smartphone may opt for an Android device, since the game can be easily installed and side loaded on Google's mobile operating system. In addition to the continuing Fortnite App Store ban, Epic Games' founder and CEO Tim Sweeney also confirmed that the company's developer account will stay blacklisted.

As a result, the North Carolina based developer and publisher will not be able to reach Apple's user base of over 1 billion customers at all. It is no surprise that Apple does not accept the court's ruling, which requires the Cupertino-based company to allow the integration of links to alternative payment methods in iOS apps. Apple is very keen on keeping the millions of US$ in provisions that it earns from purchases and payments that are made through its mandatory and restrictive App Store platform.