Fortnite Returns to App Stores Globally, Except Australia

Fortnite is back on the App Store globally... except for Australia. (Sorry, mates.) The battle royale game has been back in the US App Store since last year, following a nearly five-year ban that stemmed from Epic's seemingly never-ending legal battle with Apple.

Epic suggested it was confident enough in the direction of political headwinds to make the game installable again on (most of) the world's iOS devices. The company is banking on US federal courts to force Apple to disclose the operational costs behind its App Store fees. Epic believes that "once Apple is forced to show its costs, governments around the world will not allow Apple junk fees to stand."

However, Fortnite could also use the boost. In March, Epic announced that it would lay off around a quarter of its workforce. The company also killed off several game modes, including Fortnite Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage. Meanwhile, the game's Rocket Racing mode will disappear in October.

Citing dwindling numbers for its flagship game, CEO Tim Sweeney alluded to its mobile player base. "We're only in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world's billions of smartphones; and in being the industry's vanguard we have taken a lot of bullets in a battle which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers."

As for Australia, Epic says it's holding out there because Apple is still enforcing terms that the Fortnite publisher believes are illegal. Epic said the Australian courts "found many of Apple's developer terms are unlawful, and yet Apple continues to enforce those terms. Epic is now asking the Court to bring Apple's unlawful conduct to an end and to make orders that will benefit all app developers and iOS users."