The new Australian lawsuit follows similar lawsuits brought by Epic Games against Google and Apple in the US, the EU, and the UK. Epic Games claims that both companies are forcing app makers to give up some of their revenue.

For applications downloaded from the App Store or Google Play Store, Apple and Google require that their own payment systems be used when making purchases within those applications. At Epic Games, for example, these are coins that players can buy in Fortnite. The two tech giants charge commissions of up to 30 percent for this.

Unlike Apple, Google allows apps within Android to be downloaded from app stores other than its own Play Store. But in the new indictment, Epic Games says Google is making this “terribly difficult”, allegedly violating consumer protection laws.

Fight for app stores

The Epic Games lawsuits follow the removal of Fortnite from the download stores. The game studio is not alone in its complaints about the commission policy within the app stores. Spotify, Facebook and a group of media companies such as Bloomberg, The New York Times and Disney, among others, believe that Apple should do something with the fees for payments within its app store.