By Hamza Faisal
Fortnite is coming back to iPhones in Australia. On Thursday, October 22, the country's Federal Court ordered Apple to readmit the blockbuster game to its App Store and to open iOS to rival app stores and alternative payment systems — the most serious crack yet in Apple's tightly guarded walled garden.
Justice Jonathan Beach ruled that Apple had violated Australia's competition law by locking down how iOS handles software distribution and in-app transactions. The order, issued in the long-running Epic Games v Apple case, means Australian gamers can once again download Fortnite directly from the App Store after more than six years of exile.
What the court ordered
The judge ordered Apple to do everything necessary to readmit Fortnite and Epic's other apps to the Australian App Store, provided those apps comply with the developer rules Apple is still allowed to apply. Beyond Epic's own titles, the remedies go much further: Apple must allow Australian iOS users to directly download apps or access alternative app stores, provided certain security checks are completed.
The court also barred Apple from charging what Epic has called "junk fees" on purchases routed through third-party app stores once that channel opens. Notably, the requirement to keep iOS open carries no fixed expiry date. The scope is limited to the Australian App Store and users with Australian Apple accounts, though developers and payment providers can be based anywhere in the world as long as they are enrolled in Apple's developer program. Most of the changes take effect by March 1, 2027.
In related Apple and Google class actions, Beach formalized the earlier competition-law findings but declined to rule that any particular developer or user had been overcharged — leaving the question of compensation unresolved for now.
Six years of legal war
Fortnite has been missing from Apple's storefronts worldwide since August 2020, when Apple pulled it after Epic introduced a direct-payment option inside the app that bypassed Apple's in-app purchase system and its standard commission. What followed became one of the defining legal battles of the app economy era.
Epic had already scored a major win in August 2025, when the same judge found in a 2,000-page ruling that Apple and Google had engaged in anticompetitive conduct, abusing their market power to reduce competition — while rejecting claims of unconscionable conduct or breaches of consumer law. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney hailed Thursday's remedies as "a huge victory for consumers and developers," confirming that Fortnite would return alongside the Epic Games Store in Australia soon.
Apple will fight back
Apple, for its part, made clear the war is far from over. The company said it will seek to delay and eventually overturn the decision, rejecting the court's market definition. While Australian gamers get their game back, the long-term structure of the country's mobile app economy — and how much of the iOS business truly opens up — now hangs on the appeals process.
Still, Thursday's order is a milestone: after six years of litigation across multiple continents, a major court has not just punished Apple's conduct but forced its platform open. Regulators and rival app stores worldwide will be watching what happens next.
By Hamza Faisal
