Fortnite blocked on iOS in 2025 : What’s happening ?

Since May 16, 2025, Fortnite has been completely unplayable on iPhones and iPads, whether you're in the U.S. or even in Europe. The Epic Games Store, which used to be a workaround for iOS users, doesn’t work anymore either. That means all iOS players are stuck — and obviously, frustration is mounting. So, what’s actually going on with Fortnite and Apple this time?

Until recently, if you were in Europe and your iPhone was up to date, you could still install Fortnite through the Epic Games Store, thanks to a new EU law that allows alternative app stores outside of Apple’s App Store. But that workaround is now dead too. As of May 16, Fortnite has gone “offline globally until Apple allows it back,” according to the game’s official account on X (formerly Twitter).

The root of the issue isn’t new. Apple and Epic Games have been at war for five years now. It all started when Epic tried to dodge Apple’s 30% cut on in-game purchases back in 2020. Apple didn’t take that lightly and pulled Fortnite from the App Store. Since then, it’s been a never-ending mess of lawsuits, public feuds, and legal loopholes.

In 2024, Epic made a bit of a comeback on iOS via its own store in the EU, thanks to those new laws. And in the U.S., a court ruling even forced Apple to start allowing third-party stores. But in early May 2025, Epic tried to release a new version of Fortnite for iOS — and that’s when everything went sideways.

Epic claims that Apple rejected the update because it bundled the European and U.S. versions of the game into one single file. That move apparently violated Apple’s policies, and as a result, Fortnite got blocked everywhere — even in regions where it was technically allowed. Apple, on the other hand, says it’s not their fault. According to them, they just asked Epic to separate the two versions, and it was Epic who decided to shut the whole thing down until they could get a single global approval.

So now, both sides are pointing fingers, and no one really knows when the situation will get resolved. For players, all that matters is that Fortnite is once again off-limits on iOS — and it could stay that way for a while.