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Australian court rules Apple and Google App Stores 'uncompetitive' in Epic Games lawsuit
Epic Games secures partial win in Australia as federal court finds app stores lack safeguards against anti-competitive behaviour, but stops short of ruling intentional breaches.
An Australian federal court has found that the app stores operated by Apple and Google-owned Android are uncompetitive, marking a partial victory for U.S.-based Fortnite developer Epic Games in its long-running battle against the tech giants, Reuters reported.
The ruling, reported by local media on Tuesday, comes amid Epic's global legal campaign challenging the dominance of the smartphone makers in app distribution and in-app payment systems.
The court determined that Apple's App Store and Google Play Store lacked protections against anti-competitive conduct, although it did not find that the companies had intentionally broken the law.
Epic Games had accused both firms of charging excessive fees for game downloads and blocking users from installing its alternative app store.
In a post on X, the company said the court had confirmed that “Apple and Google abuse their control over app distribution and in-app payments to limit competition.”
The full 2,000-page judgment was not released on Tuesday, but a judge’s summary outlined the findings, the report added.
Apple responded by welcoming the dismissal of some of Epic's claims but strongly disagreed with other aspects of the decision.
“Apple faces fierce competition in every market where we operate,” the company said in a statement.
Google echoed a similar sentiment, stating it disagreed with the court’s view of its billing policies and historic partnerships, which it argued were forged in “a fiercely competitive mobile landscape.” Both companies indicated they would review the full decision before considering their next legal steps.
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