Apple is forced to let game developers link to other payment solutions in the App Store

On Friday, a dramatic outcome came out of the lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games, which took place in court in May. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers now has – as part of the final judgment – imposed on Apple a permanent order to let game and app developers link customers to alternative payment methods in mobile applications for iOS.

The order will take effect from December 9, but it is expected that Apple will appeal the decision.

For Apple, this is a major setback, and could have major financial consequences for them. According to analysts who Bloomberg has spoken with, the App Store platform draws in more than NOK 173 billion a year, with a profit margin of over 75 percent.

Says Apple is not a monopoly

At the same time, the lawsuit has not really gone in favor of Epic Games. Gonzalez-Rogers also concludes that the court does not view Apple as a monopoly company, either by federal or state law. This is what Epic claimed in its lawsuit against Apple last fall.

More dramatic is the fact that Epic Games is sentenced to give away 30 percent of all the revenue they have earned by turning away from Apple’s payment solution in the alternative payment system they implemented. The court says that Epic Games committed a breach of contract when they evaded the payment solution in the App Store last year. The sum must be over 30 million kroner.

Apple says in another statement The Verge that they see the decision as a victory.

– Today, the court has confirmed what we have known all along: The App Store does not violate antitrust law. Apple faces stiff competition in all the segments we work in, and we believe that customers and developers choose us because our products and services are the best in the world. We will continue to ensure that the App Store is a safe and credible marketplace, the company said in the statement.

The relationship between Apple and Epic Games has been a hot topic for over a year now. It all started when Epic last year did everything in its power to circumvent Apple’s guidelines for how to charge in apps that are on the App Store, among other things to avoid giving Apple 30 percent of revenue. Apple, for its part, believes that Epic is trying to evade paying a fair amount to take part in the Apple ecosystem. The quarrel resulted in the lawsuit from Epic Games, which was followed by a lawsuits from Apple.

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