Fortnite is available again on iOS in Australia, GamesIndustry.biz reported, after a Federal Court of Australia decision found that Apple violated competition law and ruled that the company must open iOS to third-party app stores.
The decision runs to 235 pages. The court found that Apple restricted alternative app stores and alternative payment methods in order to limit competition, and Justice Jonathan Beach set out the company's position in the two markets at issue.
Apple has a substantial degree of power in the iOS app distribution services market and iOS in-app payment solutions market.
Apple intends to contest the outcome. A company spokesperson told Reuters that Apple would "request a stay and appeal the outcome to seek a resolution that respects our intellectual property and protects the safe, secure experience that consumers and developers expect from the App Store." Epic chief executive Tim Sweeney called the decision a "huge victory for consumers and developers."
Fortnite is the first part of Epic's business to return. The Epic Games Store will follow on iOS in Australia at a later date, which has not been given.
The App Store changes due in March 2027
A further set of changes to Australia's App Store takes effect in March 2027, according to GamesIndustry.biz:
- Users can download apps directly from developers.
- Developers may offer alternative payment methods, and Apple cannot require them to use its in-app purchases or impose additional fees.
- Apple cannot block developers from pointing customers to third-party stores outside the App Store to make purchases.
- Apple cannot charge additional fees on purchases made through third-party app stores.
The Australian reinstatement closes a gap left by an earlier decision this year that returned Fortnite to iOS globally. Australia was excluded at that point because Epic had only partially won its case there, and the game stayed blocked over what Epic described as "an illegal payment arrangement with Apple."
Epic and Apple have been in dispute since 2020, when Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store for allegedly bypassing platform fees. The Epic Games Store became available on iOS for users in the European Union in September 2024, and it relaunched in the United States after a district court ruled that Apple could not collect fees on app purchases made outside the App Store.
