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Tim Sweeney welcomed the Ninth Circuit’s 2025 ruling in Epic’s dispute with Apple, but the court did not settle what Apple may charge for purchases made through external links. Fortnite’s storefront access also changed after the interview: Epic said the game was back on Apple’s App Store worldwide by May 19, 2026, with Australia still an exception. The fee question remained unresolved in the latest cited update, dated August 11, 2026.
What the Ninth Circuit decided—and what it left open
In an interview published December 12, 2025, The Verge’s Jay Peters spoke with Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney after a Ninth Circuit ruling largely affirmed a finding that Apple had not complied with a 2021 order allowing developers to link to external payment options. The Verge’s account says the earlier order barred Apple from taking fees on external purchases after Apple introduced charges reaching 27 percent and required plain-text links.
The appeals panel’s ruling was not a final decision on a permissible fee. As The Verge reported, the panel said Apple could charge costs genuinely and reasonably necessary to coordinate external links, and could receive some compensation for relevant intellectual-property use. It sent the question of reasonable fees back to the district judge. The 27 percent figure is The Verge’s account of the fee challenged in this dispute; it should not be read as a current or universal Apple rate.
Sweeney called the appellate result “really awesome for all developers.” That was his reaction to the ruling, not the court’s description of its decision.
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What Sweeney wants Apple to be allowed to charge
Sweeney said Apple should be able to recover reasonable costs for reviewing custom links and compensation for intellectual property directly used to enable purchases. He objected to a percentage of developer revenue, saying, “I can’t imagine any justification for a percentage of developer revenue being assessed here.” He also called such charges “junk fees.”
That position is narrower than saying Apple can receive no compensation at all, and it is not the court’s final fee ruling. The appeals panel left room for reasonable costs and some intellectual-property compensation; the district court still had to determine what qualifies as reasonable.
Where Fortnite was available on Apple’s App Store
Availability depends on territory and date. In the interview period, Fortnite had returned to the U.S. App Store after the April 2025 ruling. Epic later announced a broader return, while identifying Australia as an exception.
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| Territory | What was established | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Fortnite had returned to the U.S. App Store by the December 2025 interview. | The Verge, December 12, 2025 |
| Worldwide, with an exception | Epic said Fortnite was back on the App Store worldwide on May 19, 2026, but not in Australia. | Epic statement, May 19, 2026 |
| Australia | Epic said it was awaiting a court decision or lawful interim terms before returning Fortnite to the Australian App Store. | Epic statement, May 19, 2026 |
These are dated snapshots, not confirmation that access has remained identical in every territory or on every device since then. Around the interview date, The Verge also reported that Fortnite had returned to Google Play in the United States.
The Apple fee process was still continuing in August 2026
Apple asked the Supreme Court to stay proceedings in May 2026. The Supreme Court docket records that Justice Elena Kagan denied the application on May 6. That docket entry establishes the denial of a stay request; it does not decide the merits of the fee dispute.
MacRumors reported on August 11, 2026, that Apple’s request to pause the district-court fee proceedings had also been denied. According to that report, Apple was to submit its proposed fees and Epic would have 60 days to respond, leaving the district judge to determine what was reasonable. No final fee rate was established in that update.
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Why Sweeney expects effects beyond the United States
Sweeney predicted that the Ninth Circuit opinion could help unblock regulatory efforts elsewhere. He said he hoped Apple would “come to a soft landing and have a single worldwide policy that works for everybody.” That is his forecast and preference, not a ruling that governs foreign app stores. Epic’s May 2026 statement also urged enforcement of app-market rules in several jurisdictions, but the cited developments do not establish a single international rule or uniform Fortnite availability.
The United States and Australia illustrate why the distinction matters: Epic announced a broad App Store return while saying that the Australian storefront remained unresolved. A U.S. court ruling, a company’s statement about distribution, and a prediction about regulatory spillover are different kinds of evidence.
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Epic’s wider business pressures are separate from the Apple case
The Apple dispute does not explain Epic’s overall business outlook on its own. The Associated Press reported that Epic announced 1,000 layoffs in March 2026—about 20 percent of its workforce—and said its headcount after the cuts was 4,000. AP attributed the company’s stated pressures to slower growth, weaker spending, tougher cost economics, competition for attention, and company-specific challenges. Those figures and explanations provide business context; they do not show that the Apple litigation caused the layoffs.
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