Fortnite returns to Apple's Australian App Store after court ruling

Fortnite returns

Epic Games said on X on 21 October that Fortnite would return to the Australian App Store the next day. The game was live again on 22 October. Australia had been the only country left out of Epic's global iOS comeback in May 2026, when Fortnite returned to iOS in most other markets.

The return follows a Federal Court of Australia ruling that Apple violated competition law by restricting app distribution and payment options. The court ordered Apple to do all things necessary to permit Fortnite and other Epic iOS apps to be admitted or readmitted to the App Store, subject to App Store review guidelines. Fortnite must be "made available for discovery, downloading, use and updating by iOS device users," PocketGamer.biz reported.

Tim Sweeney, Epic's chief executive, said in a post on X that the Australian remedies were "a huge victory for consumers and developers" and that Epic was "studying the verdict and will share more soon."

What the court ordered

In a 235-page decision, Justice Jonathan Beach found Apple held a "substantial degree of power in the iOS app distribution services market and iOS in-app payment solutions market," GamesIndustry.biz reported. The court ordered Apple to permit alternative app stores without imposing conditions and to let users download apps directly from developers. Developers may offer alternative payment systems, and Apple cannot block them from pointing users to outside purchase options.

Apple must implement the orders by 1 March 2027 or send proof that it needs an extension by 15 February 2027, Engadget reported. The court also ordered Apple to pay 85 percent of Epic's legal costs. The ruling includes clauses aimed at the "malicious compliance" Apple has been accused of in other markets, including "Core Technology" or developer fees for using third-party app stores, according to Engadget. Users must not hit "friction" when paying through alternative systems or installing apps from outside the App Store.

Epic's summary of the changes lists third-party app stores, direct downloads and alternative payment systems, and says Apple will be barred from charging "junk fees" on purchases made through third-party stores.

Apple's response

Apple said it disagreed with many of the court's findings and would request a stay and appeal the outcome. A spokesperson said Apple "does not have a monopoly position in Australia or in any market around the world" and disputed a market definition that other courts have rejected. Apple said any resolution should respect its intellectual property and protect the "safe, secure experience that consumers and developers expect from the App Store."

Apple noted that the court affirmed it is "entitled to seek a commercial return on its highly valuable intellectual property-protected assets." The court rejected Epic's "unconscionable conduct" claims and imposed no rate setting, Apple said.

Background

Epic sued Apple in the US in 2020 over control of iOS transactions and app distribution. Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store that year for bypassing platform fees. The Epic Games Store reached iOS users in the EU in September 2024. Fortnite returned to the US App Store in 2025 after almost five years away, then rolled out almost globally in May 2026.

That rollout drove an estimated 3.4 million App Store downloads in one week, an eight-year high, according to AppMagic data cited by PocketGamer.biz. Fortnite also passed 1 million daily downloads on iOS for the first time. Australia sat out that rollout because Epic had only partly won its case there. Epic said at the time that Apple kept enforcing terms Australian courts had found unlawful while it waited for a final decision.

What happens next

The Epic Games Store is set to follow Fortnite onto iOS in Australia at a later date, though Epic has not given one, GamesIndustry.biz reported.