Apart from Litigation in Europe and the United StatesThe antitrust lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple is also in AustraliaThere is a preliminary rulingThe court found that Apple’s App Store design lacked the ability to prevent anti-competitive behavior in the market, and also believed that Google had the same impact on market competition in its Google Play Store.
The court stated that Apple set up a centralized and strict app distribution system on the grounds of ensuring security, and therefore determined that it had affected fair competition in the market. Therefore, the preliminary ruling will be in favor of Epic Games.
However, the court did not agree with all the allegations made by Epic Games, including accusations that Apple engaged in malicious market manipulation and a request that Google must allow third-party software stores to be listed on the Google Play Store.
Apple expressed its welcome to the court's dismissal of some of Epic Games' allegations, but also protested the court's decision that Apple had affected fair competition in the market. It stressed that it faces fierce competition in every market and continues to innovate to ensure that the App Store becomes the safest service platform and brings more development opportunities to developers.
Google thanked the court for rejecting Epic Games' request, but also emphasized that the Android platform itself supports sideloading of other apps, so it believes that it has not affected market competition.
As for Epic Games, it stated that this preliminary ruling is a victory for Australian developers and consumers, and it is expected that games such as "Fortnite" will be able to return to the App Store.
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
Epic Games filed a lawsuit in Australia against Apple and Google as early as 2020, accusing Apple and Google of using their respective platforms to control the market, restricting how users access apps, and forcing developers and users to use only specific payment systems. Due to the slow progress of Epic Games' lawsuits in other countries and regions, the Australian court temporarily suspended the case until 2024.
At present, the Australian court has only made a preliminary ruling, not a final decision. However, just like the previous rulings in the United States and Europe, the final ruling is expected to become a reference for similar cases in the future. It may also affect the way Apple and Google operate their software market services in the future.
