Fortnite returned to the App Store in the US back in May after a federal court ruling, and is now set to return in Australia too after a similar judgment there. While Epic Games celebrated the ruling, the fate of the app in other countries still remains far from certain – and its availability in the US may be temporary … A quick recap Epic Games was thrown out of Apple’s App Store rules by introducing its own in-app payment system, bypassing Apple’s 30% commission – a blatant breach of Apple’s rules. The two companies went to court, and Apple mostly won – but the judge ruled that the company must allow developers to make in-app sales through their own channels without the iPhone maker taking a cut. Apple responded by declaring that it would continue to demand commission even on sales made outside the App Store. Epic returned to court to fight this, and the judge confirmed that Apple lied under oath, was flouting her ruling, and must comply. She’s even referred the matter for criminal investigation. Fortnite did indeed return to the US App Store and quickly became the top free game, though with Apple vowing to continue the fight. Fortnite returns to the App Store in Australia Meantime, the same legal battles are being fought in other countries around the world. The latest ruling is in Australia, where both Apple and Google were found to have broken competition law in banning Epic games from their app stores. ABC reports: Judge Jonathan Beach found that both companies had broken the law by misusing their market power in the way they run their app stores […] He said Apple had “engaged in conduct… that had the purpose or is likely to have or had the effect of substantially lessening competition in such markets”. “Specifically, conduct that prevents or prohibits the direct downloading or sideloading of native apps and conduct that prevents or prohibits developers and users from using alternative payment methods.” He rejected Apple’s argument that it was simply trying to safeguard the security of iPhone apps. Epic Games tweeted that this would see the return of Fortnite and its games store to the iPhone in Australia. The Epic Games Store and Fortnite will come to iOS in Australia! 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… — Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) August 12, 2025 Apple said that it strongly disagreed with the ruling. We welcome the Australian court’s rejection of some of Epic’s claims, however, we strongly disagree with the court’s ruling on others. But the battle continues Apple continues to fight the case in the US, and Epic has so far not succeeded In returning to the UK App Store. It looks very much like the two tech giants will duke it out in court on a country-by-country basis. Highlighted accessories