Australian Court Finds Apple and Google Abused Their App Store Power

Epic Games has reached a key milestone in its ongoing conflict against the app store practices of Apple and Google: On Tuesday, the Federal Court of Australia determined that both companies exhibited anti-competitive conduct concerning their app stores, as reported by ABC News.

Judge Jonathan Beach found that the tech giants had exploited their dominant market position in app distribution to suppress competition; however, he dismissed Epic’s claims of “unconscionable conduct” by the companies.

Epic Games has challenged the in-app purchase fee structures enforced by Apple and Google in several jurisdictions worldwide. Earlier this year, the company achieved a notable victory against Apple in the United States, which allowed Fortnite to return to the Apple App Store after a five-year hiatus.

The ruling from Tuesday could potentially lead to a similar resolution for Epic in Australia, with CEO Tim Sweeney announcing that the Epic Games Store and Fortnite will soon be available again on the Apple App Store in that region.

“We appreciate the court’s dismissal of Epic’s requests for app stores to be included within the Google Play store and their criticisms of essential security measures relied upon by users. However, we disagree with the court’s evaluation of our billing policies and practices, as well as its conclusions about some of our prior partnerships,” a Google spokesperson stated in an emailed response.

In reply, Apple informed ABC News that its app store is the safest option for users to download apps and expressed disagreement with the court’s findings on several of Epic’s assertions.