ACCC wins right to intervene in Epic v Apple app payments case
Australia's competition regulator joins Epic v Apple Federal Court hearing on app distribution and in-app payment remedies, with relief resuming 28 April 2026.
Data
Australia's competition regulator has been granted leave by the Federal Court to intervene in the proceedings between Epic Games, Inc and Apple Inc, a private antitrust case with potentially far-reaching consequences for how mobile apps are distributed and paid for across Australia. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced the development on 21 April 2026, one week before the relief hearing is scheduled to resume.
The ACCC's role in these proceedings is formally limited. The commission sought leave to intervene for the specific purpose of making written submissions on "relief issues of public interest," according to the ACCC release. It will not act as a full party to the litigation. That distinction matters: the commission is stepping in not to pursue its own enforcement action, but to ensure the Federal Court hears a perspective that extends beyond the commercial interests of Epic and Apple.
The relief hearing and what it covers
The relief phase follows a Federal Court finding from August 2025 that Apple misused its market power in breach of Australia's competition laws. Specifically, the court found that Apple restricted the use of alternative app distribution methods and in-app payment methods on Apple devices. That finding came alongside a parallel ruling against Google, which was found to have engaged in equivalent conduct on Android mobile devices.
The question now before the court - and the reason the ACCC sought to participate - is what orders to impose as a result of those findings. Relief hearings in competition cases determine remedies: the practical changes a defendant must make to its business, the conditions it must operate under, and in some cases the penalties it must pay. The outcome of this phase could determine whether Apple faces binding obligations to open up its payment infrastructure and distribution channels to rivals on iOS in Australia.
According to ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward, "The ACCC hopes to assist the Court by putting submissions that recognise the public interest in the promotion of competitive digital services markets and the broad public interest nature of the remedial orders that the Court may make." Woodward also described the matter as significant: "This is a significant competition law matter, and the orders made in these proceedings could have wide-ranging implications for the distribution of mobile apps and in-app payments in Australia."
The relief hearing resumes on 28 April 2026.
How the case began: Fortnite and the 30 per cent commission
The origins of this dispute stretch back to August 2020, when Epic Games removed Apple's and Google's payment systems from its popular video game Fortnite and introduced a direct payment option at a lower price. The move bypassed the approximately 30 per cent commission that both Apple and Google charge developers on in-app purchases. Apple and Google responded by removing Fortnite from their respective app stores.
Epic, described by the ACCC as "a multi-billion dollar video game and software company," then launched court proceedings in Australia, the United States, and other jurisdictions. The Australian proceedings commenced in November 2020 and have continued for more than five years. The ACCC has monitored them throughout that period and had some limited involvement before seeking formal leave to intervene.
The Google side of the Australian proceedings reached a resolution earlier this year. In March 2026, the Federal Court ordered by consent that Epic's case against Google be dismissed. Epic and Google entered into a global settlement agreement, which the ACCC confirmed applies in Australia as well. The case against Apple, however, remains active and is now approaching the remedies phase.
The ACCC's standing and history in these proceedings
Under Australia's Competition and Consumer Act 2010, private parties can bring their own court cases regardless of whether the ACCC chooses to act. That means a regulator can find itself watching consequential litigation unfold without formally participating. The ACCC has a mechanism for such situations: it can seek leave to intervene in private proceedings where there are issues of significant public interest involved.
The commission does not do this routinely. According to the ACCC, it typically only considers intervention "in certain limited circumstances," and when it does intervene, it seeks to "provide the Court with a broader perspective than that of private litigants." Leave is granted at the discretion of the court, and the Federal Court has now exercised that discretion in the ACCC's favour.
This is not the first time the ACCC has involved itself in Epic's litigation. In 2021, the commission was granted leave to appear as amicus curiae - or "friend of the court" - when Epic appealed a Federal Court decision granting Apple a temporary stay of proceedings. At that point, the ACCC's position was that important Australian competition law cases should be heard and determined in Australian courts, a principle the commission supported directly.
The current intervention is broader in scope. Rather than addressing procedural matters, the ACCC's written submissions will now speak to the substance of what remedies the court should order.
Five years of digital platform scrutiny
The ACCC's interest in app market competition is not incidental to this case. The commission conducted what it describes as the "wide-ranging Digital Platform Services Inquiry" from 2020 to 2025 - a five-year investigation that ran in parallel with the Epic proceedings. That inquiry examined competition across search, social media, app marketplaces, cloud computing, and generative artificial intelligence.
The inquiry's final report, published in March 2025, delivered 35 recommendations and confirmed that Apple and Google together hold approximately 100 per cent of the mobile operating system market in Australia, according to ACCC consumer survey data. That concentration gives both companies significant market power in mobile app distribution - a finding that directly informs the regulator's concern about the orders the Federal Court might make in the Epic case.
Throughout the inquiry, the ACCC identified patterns of conduct it considered harmful to competition. According to the commission, those patterns include "denying interoperability, self-preferencing and tying, exclusivity agreements, impeding switching, and withholding access to important hardware, software, and data inputs." These are not abstract regulatory concerns; they describe the specific commercial levers that Apple and Google have used to maintain control over how apps are discovered, downloaded, and monetised on mobile devices.
The ACCC's 2026-27 enforcement priorities, announced in February 2026, confirm that misuse of market power in digital platform markets remains a central concern for the commission. In December 2025, the Federal Court ordered Google Asia Pacific to pay A$55 million in penalties for anti-competitive conduct involving exclusive pre-installation agreements with Telstra and Optus - one of the largest competition penalties against a technology company in Australian history. That enforcement action, initiated by the ACCC, illustrates the practical consequence of the regulator's attention to digital platform power.
Australia's proposed digital competition regime
The Epic v Apple relief proceedings are unfolding against a broader legislative context. The Australian government has committed to introducing a new digital competition regime, and the ACCC continues to work with the Treasury on its development. The proposed framework, which was out for public consultation until February 2025, would give the commission new powers to regulate large digital platforms with designated market status - a design influenced by the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act and the EU's Digital Markets Act.
That international context matters. The EU's Digital Markets Act has already required Apple to allow alternative app marketplaces and payment systems for users in European Union member states, with iOS 18.6 introducing a streamlined installation flow for alternative marketplaces. Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act, which came into force in 2025, imposed its own requirements on Apple and Google in that market. In the UK, the Competition Appeal Tribunal found in October 2025 that Apple abused its dominant position through App Store restrictions and its 30 per cent commission structure, in a case brought on behalf of approximately 36 million class members.
The Australian Federal Court findings from August 2025 place Australia within this broader international pattern of competition enforcement against major mobile platform operators. If the relief hearing produces meaningful remedies - binding orders that open up distribution or payment processing on iOS - they could shape the practical operation of the App Store in Australia regardless of what the government's new competition regime eventually requires.
What the marketing and ad tech community should watch
For those working in mobile app marketing, user acquisition, and in-app monetisation, the relief hearing is the part of this litigation that carries direct commercial relevance. The August 2025 finding that Apple misused its market power established liability. The upcoming remedies phase will determine whether and how iOS app distribution and payment infrastructure changes for Australian users and developers.
Apple's approximately 30 per cent commission on in-app purchases has long been a structural constraint on mobile app business models. App store advertising itself is evolving rapidly, with Apple announcing additional search ad placements rolling out in 2026 across its global markets. Marketers operating subscription apps, digital goods businesses, or any service monetised through iOS face a cost structure that traces directly to the commission rates at issue in this case.
The settlement between Epic and Google - which applies globally, including in Australia - resolved the Android side of the dispute. That agreement, filed in November 2025 and later formalised, would streamline competing app store installations on Android, reduce service fees for developers on Google Play, and enable third-party in-app and web payment options. The question now is whether the Apple proceedings produce comparable or more extensive changes on iOS.
The ACCC's intervention signals that the commission considers the public interest at stake to be substantial enough to justify formal participation in private litigation. For the marketing community, the practical stakes are similarly significant: how apps are distributed and how payments flow on the most commercially valuable mobile platform in Australia hangs in part on what the Federal Court orders next week.
Timeline
- August 2020: Epic Games introduces direct payment options in Fortnite, bypassing Apple's and Google's approximately 30 per cent commission fees. Both companies remove Fortnite from their app stores.
- November 2020: Epic Games commences court proceedings in Australia. The ACCC begins monitoring the private litigation.
- 2021: The ACCC is granted leave to appear as amicus curiae in Epic's appeal of Apple's temporary stay of proceedings, supporting the principle that Australian competition cases should be determined in Australian courts.
- December 2023: A US jury finds Google violated antitrust laws through its Play Store and billing practices. Google later settles a related US state lawsuit, paying $630 million to a consumer settlement fund.
- January 2025: The US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission file a 38-page amicus brief supporting Epic's antitrust victory over Google in the US proceedings, rejecting Google's arguments that court-ordered remedies exceeded legal authority.
- March 2025: The ACCC concludes its Digital Platform Services Inquiry with 35 recommendations, confirming Apple and Google hold approximately 100 per cent combined mobile OS market share in Australia.
- August 2025: The Federal Court of Australia finds Apple and Google misused their respective market power in breach of Australia's competition laws, by restricting alternative app distribution and in-app payment methods.
- October 2025: The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal finds Apple abused its dominant position through App Store restrictions and its 30 per cent commission, in proceedings covering approximately 36 million class members.
- November 2025: Google and Epic file a joint motion in the US proposing a modified settlement that would expand developer payment choice on Android and streamline competing app store installations globally.
- December 2025: The Federal Court orders Google Asia Pacific to pay A$55 million in penalties for exclusive pre-installation agreements with Telstra and Optus on Android devices.
- February 2026: The ACCC sets its 2026-27 enforcement priorities, maintaining misuse of market power in digital platform markets as an enduring focus area.
- March 2026: The Federal Court orders by consent that Epic's Australian proceedings against Google be dismissed. Epic and Google's global settlement agreement applies in Australia.
- 21 April 2026: The ACCC is granted leave by the Federal Court to intervene in the Epic v Apple proceedings in relation to relief, with the intention of making written submissions on issues of public interest.
- 28 April 2026: The relief hearing resumes before the Federal Court.
Summary
Who: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, represented by Commissioner Luke Woodward, has been granted leave by the Federal Court to intervene in the private antitrust proceedings between Epic Games, Inc and Apple Inc.
What: The ACCC will make written submissions limited to specific relief issues of public interest, following the Federal Court's finding in August 2025 that Apple misused its market power by restricting alternative app distribution and in-app payment methods on Apple devices in Australia.
When: The ACCC announced the development on 21 April 2026. The relief hearing resumes on 28 April 2026.
Where: The proceedings are before the Federal Court of Australia. The potential orders could affect the distribution of mobile apps and in-app payment options for Australian users and developers.
Why: The ACCC considers the remedies at stake to involve significant public interest in the promotion of competitive digital services markets. The commission has monitored the case since November 2020 and conducted a parallel five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry that confirmed Apple and Google hold approximately 100 per cent of Australia's mobile operating system market. The Epic v Google side of the case was resolved by a global settlement in March 2026; the Apple proceedings remain active and are approaching the remedies phase.