Apple's request for a rehearing in its lawsuit with Epic Games over App Store fees has been denied, which means no changes will be made to how external purchases are handled for now.
The battle between Apple and Epic continues, but at least one of Apple's paths to victory may finally be closed for good. Apple hoped to undo a December 2025 decision with an appeal, but that was denied.
Apple's request for a rehearing was denied on Monday according to a court filing. It states: "The panel unanimously votes to deny the petition for panel rehearing."
The ruling itself may be a blow to Apple, but ultimately, it changes nothing in the case so far. External linking is still required to be allowed, but the commission paid on such things is still up for debate.
It may be some time yet before everything is truly resolved.
The story so far
Apple's lawsuit with Epic Games goes back to 2020, when Fortnite was removed from the App Store for bypassing its in-app purchase system. Rather than pay Apple its desired 30% fee, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, decided to redirect users to its own website for payments.
In 2021, Apple was hit with an anti-steering injunction. The company could no longer stop app developers from informing their users of cheaper, external payment methods, and linking to them.
Apple had to allow external purchase links, and it did in January 2024, but it opted to charge a 27% fee on external purchases related to App Store apps.
After ruling in April 2025 that the company violated the 2021 anti-steering injunction, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers forced Apple to change its App Store practices on May 1, 2025.
Apple had to allow external purchase links within apps installed via the App Store, but it could not charge a fee for these transactions.
Apple appealed the ruling in May 2025, and again in August 2025.
In December 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Apple could charge a fee on external purchases after all, provided it was not as high as its previous 27% commission.
Tim Sweeney will keep fighting against Apple, seemingly, no matter the result
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney argued that Apple should be charging tens to hundreds of dolars per app update to cover costs, not a flat rate commission.
As was discussed at the top, Apple appealed the ruling and lost.
Ultimately, this means the courts' prior decisions are valid, making the situation unchanged. Apple will still be allowed to charge a fee for external purchases related to App Store apps, provided the fee is agreed upon by Apple and Epic.
The 2021 injunction remains in place, meaning that Apple can't prevent developers from linking to their own websites for purchases related to App Store apps like Fortnite.
Fortnite itself, meanwhile, remains available in the United States version of the App Store. In essence, the panel of judges opted to maintain the status quo for the time being.
