Apple plans appeal as Fortnite returns to Australia’s iOS store

Apple has returned Fortnite to its Australian app stores after a court ruling ordered the company to open its mobile operating system to rivals. The reinstatement, reported on October 22, is the first implemented change described in coverage of the ruling; the court's broader orders require changes beyond restoring the game.

The ruling sets out conditions for developers and payment providers seeking to operate under the new arrangements. They can be based anywhere in the world, according to MLex reporting cited by shattered.io, but participating developers must remain enrolled in Apple's developer program.

The court's order therefore reaches beyond Epic Games and Fortnite, while the game's return is the concrete change already in place. Engadget reported that the court also ordered Apple to cover 85 percent of Epic Games' legal costs. Apple must implement the orders by March 1, 2027, or provide proof supporting a request for an extension by February 15, 2027.

Those deadlines set out the next stages of compliance; the sources do not describe the specific technical or commercial changes Apple will make to meet the wider requirements. Apple said it disagreed with many parts of the decision and plans to appeal.

It also pointed to a finding in its favour: the court affirmed that Apple could seek a commercial return on its intellectual-property-protected assets, which developers including Epic Games use. That position gives Apple's account of the ruling a qualification alongside its planned appeal, rather than presenting the decision as wholly one-sided.

Epic Games cast the outcome as beneficial beyond its own dispute. In a statement reported by GamesBeat and quoted by shattered.io, the company said developers worldwide and iOS users in Australia would benefit from a more open app ecosystem.

That is Epic's characterization of the potential effect; the reporting confirms Fortnite's return and describes the court's broader requirements, but does not quantify benefits to developers or users.

The two accounts emphasize different parts of the case. shattered.io focuses on the wider opening of Apple's mobile operating system and the developer-program condition, while Engadget details the legal-cost order, compliance dates and Apple's view of the intellectual-property ruling.

Both report Apple's intention to appeal, leaving the court-ordered changes subject to a continuing legal contest as well as an implementation process. The immediate practical change is that Australian iOS users can access Fortnite through Apple's app stores again.

The ruling's wider effect will depend on how Apple implements the orders and the course of its planned appeal; neither account specifies what the appeal will challenge or whether it will alter the deadlines.