Epic Games confirmed on December 18, 2025 that Fortnite will not return to iOS in Japan this year after Apple blocked competing app stores from launching there. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney posted the announcement on X, saying Apple failed to open iOS to third-party stores as required and instead put new restrictions in place.
Sadly, Fortnite will not return to iOS in Japan in 2025 as promised. Apple was required to open up iOS to competing stores today, and instead of doing so honestly, they have launched another travesty of obstruction and lawbreaking in gross disrespect to the government and people… pic.twitter.com/7hu5eGMQX6
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) December 18, 2025
Sweeney said Apple is applying a “21% junk fee” on third-party in-app payments and a 15% rate for web purchases, and that the company added a 5% fee on revenue from apps distributed through competing stores. He also accused Apple of rolling out warning screens and a mandatory reporting API that would track transactions in alternative stores and said Epic will raise the issues with the Japanese Fair Trade Commission.
The statement follows a separate block on Fortnite’s return to iOS in other markets after Apple objected to the game’s reappearance. A recent court push prompted Epic to offer to return Fortnite to the App Store after a U.S. ruling, that proposal and the related legal back-and-forth are summarized in a previous piece on Epic’s offer to return Fortnite to iOS following the federal decision, which covered the legal context and next steps here.
Apple previously faced orders to explain why Fortnite was still absent from iOS in some regions, and that dispute appears to have informed Epic’s expectations for a broader relaunch. Fortnite’s in-game competitive and seasonal plans are proceeding separately; Epic also announced a $2.5 million Reload Elite Series with finals at the Esports World Cup and pushed a Winterfest 2025 update on December 18. Those competitive and content updates do not affect the iOS situation in Japan.
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Fortnite: Chapter 7 - Season 1: Pacific Break
Developed by Epic Games
