Fortnite is returning to iOS in Australia after both Apple and Google were found to have employed anticompetitive practices by a Federal Court judge.
Epic shared the news in a brief post on social media and said the Epic Games Store will also be heading to iOS.
“The Epic Games Store and Fortnite will come to iOS in Australia,” reads the post. “An Australian court just found that Apple and Google abuse their control over app distribution and in-app payments to limit competition. There are 2,000+ pages of findings that we’ll need to dig into to fully understand the details. This is a win for developers and consumers in Australia.”
It’s another notable win for Epic, which earlier this year announced that Fortnite would be returning to the App Store in the United States following a similar victory over Apple in U.S. court.
Epic began legal proceedings against Apple in Australia in 2020 after the iPhone maker blocked Fortnite updates when Epic attempted to let players make in-app purchases via its own third-party payment service.
“After we added direct Epic payments to save players up to 20 percent, Apple and Google retaliated by blocking Fortnite players from installing and updating the game through the App Store and Google Play,” said Epic in a lengthy post on its website.
“Apple and Google demand that game developers use their payment processing service, which charges an exorbitant rate of 30 percent. Apple and Google block developers from using more efficient payment methods such as Mastercard (including Apple Card), Visa, and PayPal, which charge rates of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent, and therefore prevent developers from passing the savings on to customers.”
Epic described the policies used by Apple and Google as “restrictive” and “anticompetitive.”
Federal Court judge Justice Jonathan Beach agreed (to an extent) and found that Apple and Google’s store dominance reduced competition and resulted in developers paying higher fees than they would on a more open marketplace.
As reported by Financial Review, Beach noted Apple and Google don’t impose similarly restrictive rules on applications that sell other goods such as food or transport. He also found that “Apple’s centralized in-app system for the purpose of security does not entail that there is not a substantial anticompetitive purpose involved.”
Beach, however, quashed Epic’s claims that Apple and Google had breached consumer law. Apple welcomed that particular outcome but said it “strongly disagreed” with his other rulings.
“Apple faces fierce competition in every market where we operate. We continuously invest and innovate to make the App Store the safest place for users to get apps and a great business opportunity for developers in Australia and around the world,” said a company spokesperson.
Financial Review said the full judgement will not be released to the public.
