Fortnite Coming Back to iPhone in Australia After Epic's Legal Victory

Epic Games has announced that Fortnite will return to iOS in Australia after Apple and Google were found to have broken competition law by banning ‌Epic Games‌ from their app stores.

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Federal judge Jonathan Beach found that both companies had broken the law by misusing their market power in the way they run their app stores. Apple was ruled to have engaged in conduct that prevents direct downloading or sideloading of apps and blocks developers from using alternative payment methods. Google was also found to have breached the law for the similar Google Play billing system.

The victory is another win for Epic in its global legal campaign against Apple's App Store policies. Epic began legal proceedings against Apple in Australia in 2020 after it blocked Fortnite updates when Epic attempted to let players make in-app purchases via its own third-party payment service, bypassing Apple's 30% commission. Fortnite is still available in Australia on Android, but only through sideloading via the ‌Epic Games‌ Store.

"This is a win for developers and consumers in Australia," Epic said in a post on X (Twitter), though the company conceded that there were 2,000+ pages of findings that it would "need to dig into to fully understand the details."

Apple said it "strongly disagreed" with the ruling while welcoming the Australian court's rejection of some of Epic's other claims.

The ruling follows similar victories for Epic in the United States, where Fortnite returned to the ‌App Store‌ in May, and the European Union, where the game is available through the ‌Epic Games‌‌ Store alternative app marketplace. The U.S. version of Fortnite includes an option for players to purchase in-app currency using the ‌‌Epic Games‌‌ website as an alternative to in-app purchase. It is not available on the ‌‌App Store‌‌ in other countries.

Apple is currently appealing the U.S. court ruling that forced it to change its ‌domestic ‌App Store‌‌ rules to allow developers to link customers to purchase options available outside of the ‌‌App Store‌‌.

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Top Rated Comments

Plutonius Avatar
26 weeks ago

Hopefully this actually will benefit the devs./consumers in the end.
I'm still waiting for the Epic store to host competitor's apps :).
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlc1978 Avatar
26 weeks ago
As Apple gets forced to allow outside payments that bypass their cut they will have to find a way to make up for the lost revenue. I suspect the next steps are to change the fees they charge for developer access to the store so as to charge more for companies like EPIC that make millions of their apps, much like EPIC does for its engine.

They could get rid of the fee all together and just add upfront, per download and hosting fees but that would seriously hurt small developers who would have to put up cash before they sell anything.


Hopefully this will benefit the consumer in the end & not any of the giants that are clashing.
I doubt it since EPIC is unlikely to lower their price by 30%. This was never about fairness but who gets how much of the pie.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zarmanto Avatar
26 weeks ago
This all started when Epic broke contracts that had already made them millions. Never forget that. When the bully wins a battle, they don't simply sit back and celebrate... they push forward to the next battle. Epic will never be satisfied. And eventually, they'll push too hard, and the courts will be forced to push back.

Epic's eventual downfall at their own hands is as predictable as the sunrise.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
26 weeks ago

This all started when Epic broke contracts that had already made them millions. Never forget that. When the bully wins a battle, they don't simply sit back and celebrate... they push forward to the next battle. Epic will never be satisfied. And eventually, they'll push too hard, and the courts will be forced to push back.

Epic's eventual downfall at their own hands is as predictable as the sunrise.
This all started when Apple illegally used its market position to harm customers and strongarm developers into signing contracts with illegal terms.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
User 6502 Avatar
26 weeks ago

This all started when Epic broke contracts that had already made them millions. Never forget that. When the bully wins a battle, they don't simply sit back and celebrate... they push forward to the next battle. Epic will never be satisfied. And eventually, they'll push too hard, and the courts will be forced to push back.

Epic's eventual downfall at their own hands is as predictable as the sunrise.
I’d say it is Apple who pushed too hard and eventually had to capitulate. And there’s not reason to predict anything, it has already happened in the EU, in the United States, now in Australia and who knows in how many other countries. It had some awful predatory tactics that are now rightfully being dismantled by courts all over the world.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlc1978 Avatar
26 weeks ago

I'm still waiting for the Epic store to host competitor's apps :).
and EPIC being forced to follow the same rules as Apple...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)