Fortnite Back on App Store Worldwide Except Australia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The game Fortnite has returned to the App Store globally, except in Australia. The battle royale game has returned to the US App Store since last year, after a ban of almost five years resulting from the legal battle with Epic Games that seems endless with Apple.

Epic stated its confidence in the political winds' direction to make the game installable again on most iOS devices worldwide. The company relies on the US federal court to force Apple to disclose the operational costs behind the App Store fees.

Epic believes that once Apple is compelled to reveal its costs, governments worldwide will not allow Apple's additional charges to remain in effect.

In March, Epic announced it would lay off about a quarter of its workforce. The company also removed several game modes, including Fortnite Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage. Meanwhile, the Rocket Racing game mode will disappear in October.

Quoting a decline in the number of players for its flagship game, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney referred to its mobile player base.

"We're at the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for billions of smartphones around the world; and as an industry vanguard, we have faced many challenges in the battle that is just beginning to pay off for us and all developers," he said as quoted by Engadget.

As for Australia, Epic said they are holding out there because Apple is still enforcing terms that, according to the Fortnite publisher, are illegal. Epic said the Australian court found many of Apple's developer terms to be unlawful, but Apple continues to enforce those terms.

"Epic is now asking the court to put an end to Apple's illegal behavior and to issue orders that will benefit all app developers and iOS users," the company said.

Read: Tourism Minister to Ban Fortnite After Religious Portrayal Controversy

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