Epic Says Fortnite Is Coming Back To Ios In Australia

Epic Games has announced that it’s bringing Fortnite backmost to iOS successful Australia, aft nan country’s national tribunal ruled that Apple and Google’s app marketplaces are anticompetitive. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said connected X that Fortnite will beryllium made disposable connected iPhones via nan Epic Games Store “at a day to beryllium determined,” while nan institution navigates nan complexities of Australia’s antitrust ruling.

Epic sued Google successful Australia successful March 2021, aft suing Apple successful November 2020. A azygous tribunal is handling some cases successful parallel, moreover though they weren’t revenge astatine nan aforesaid time. 

On Tuesday, national judge Jonathan Beach recovered that Apple and Google misused their app marketplace power and in-app acquisition committee fees of up to 30 percent to trim competition, nan Australian Financial Review reports. However, Beach rejected Epic’s claims that nan tech giants had surgery user rule aliases engaged successful “unconscionable conduct” — meaning peculiarly harsh, unfair, aliases oppressive behaviour that goes against societal norms. We are still awaiting further specifications from Beach’s last judgment, which is much than 2,000 pages agelong and won’t beryllium released publicly.

The Epic Games Store and Fortnite will travel to iOS successful Australia! An Australian tribunal conscionable recovered that Apple and Google maltreatment their power complete app distribution and in-app payments to limit competition. There are 2,000+ pages of findings that we’ll request to excavation into to fully…

— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) August 12, 2025

“We invited nan court’s rejection of Epic’s demands that we administer app stores from wrong nan Google Play store, and Epic’s attacks connected different captious information protections that users trust on,” Google spokesperson Dan Jackson said successful a connection to The Verge. 

“However, we disagree pinch nan court’s characterization of our billing policies and practices, arsenic good arsenic its findings regarding immoderate of our humanities partnerships, which were each shaped successful a fiercely competitory mobile scenery connected behalf of users and developers,” Jackson said. “We will reappraisal nan afloat determination erstwhile we person it and measure our adjacent steps.”

In a connection to Australia’s ABC News, an unnamed Apple spokesperson said that nan institution welcomes nan court’s rejection of immoderate of Epic’s claims, but that it disagrees pinch different aspects of nan ruling. “Apple faces fierce title successful each marketplace wherever we operate,” nan spokesperson said. “We continuously put and innovate to make nan App Store nan safest spot for users to get apps and a awesome business opportunity for developers successful Australia and astir nan world.”

Epic primitively sued Apple and Google successful nan United States connected August 13th, 2020, successful 2 abstracted cases which went earlier 2 abstracted judges, pinch dramatically different results successful each case. Epic mostly lost its conflict against Apple aft attempting to return nan conflict each nan measurement to nan US Supreme Court, but Apple may suffer a ample grade of power complete its App Store anyhow because it grounded to comply pinch nan territory court’s order.

After removing Fortnite from nan App Store successful 2020 amid its feud pinch Epic, Apple later brought nan crippled back to its iPhone app marketplace successful May. Fortnite besides returned to iPhones successful nan EU past year, but only via nan Epic Games Store for iOS.

Meanwhile successful nan US type of nan Google trial, Epic has continually won: successful precocious 2023, a assemblage unanimously decided that Google turned its Play Store and Play Billing strategy into an forbidden monopoly, and a sheet of nan Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just affirmed that determination astatine nan extremity of July.

That determination could rustle up Google’s power complete its app shop within weeks aliases months, unless Google gets nan Ninth Circuit to assistance a enactment while it appeals to nan US Supreme Court aliases grants a afloat en banc reappraisal of nan three-judge panel’s decision. Google is arguing that nan Apple determination should beryllium applicable to nan Google decision, but truthful acold US courts disagree.