Fortnite is back on Australia's app store: What changed

Australia was the only country left out when Fortnite returned to Apple's App Store worldwide in May. That ends today. Epic Games told Reuters the shooter comes back to the Australian store on Thursday.

The Federal Court in Australia has ruled that Apple is in breach of competition laws and has directed the company to make its iOS operating system compatible with outside products.

The ruling takes immediate effect; it will not wait till 2027 when changes in the App Store are expected to take place.

Epic kept Australia out of its worldwide return while it sought further court orders on Apple's payment terms. Epic argued it couldn't come back under payment arrangements it considered unlawful, even though it had already won the main case.

The tech giant pulled Fortnite from the App Store in 2020 after Epic added its own payment option to bypass Apple's commission. Epic then sued in both the US and Australia.

Apple disagrees with many of the court's findings and plans to challenge them. It had earlier welcomed the court's rejection of some of Epic's claims while strongly disagreeing with the rest.

If you're on an iPhone in Australia, you should be able to download Fortnite from the App Store once it goes live. Check the store listing, since Apple has to approve the mission first.