Fortnite is Coming Back to Apple’s App Store Worldwide, Except in Australia

Fortnite on mobile

Fortnite has just returned to the iOS App Store five years after its developer Epic Games started a long legal battle with Apple over the company’s App Store fees. This long saga isn’t fully over yet, as Epic is still waiting for a US federal court to require Apple to be transparent about its App Store fees.

“For years, Apple has fragmented iOS features and fees by territory, taking regulatory negotiating positions in secret, and intentionally delaying the pursuit of justice,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X today. “Apple has now told the Supreme Court, “Regulators around the world are watching this case to determine what commission rate Apple may charge on covered purchases in huge markets outside the United States.” So we see this as the beginning of the end of the Apple Tax worldwide,” Sweeney continued.

Fortnite isn’t back on the Australian App Store yet, however. Even though Epic Games won a case against Apple in the country and the court determined that many of the company’s App Store terms were unlawful, Apple is still enforcing them. “Epic can’t return under an illegal payment arrangement with Apple, so unless Apple agrees to adopt lawful payment terms in the interim, we must wait for a Court decision,” Epic Games explained in a blog post.

After Epic Games settled with Google worldwide in March, Fortnite had already come back to the Google Play Store globally. “This is a critical moment in the battle against the App Store empire to win freedom for all developers and consumers, and we’ll continue the fight in every jurisdiction worldwide until competition is restored to digital stores and payment markets everywhere,” Sweeney said today.

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Thurrott