Apple and Epic have been in a legal dispute for more than a year after Apple detected that Epic was circumventing the rules of the App Store and, for that reason, kicked out of your store the creator of Fortnite. Last Friday, after months in court in exchanges of arguments, the case had a first decision. Although Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers revealed that Apple will have to make major changes to the App Store and payment system, Epic will remain outside the Apple store and will still have to pay $12 million to the Cupertino company.
The CEO of Epic Games saw this decision as a defeat, because Apple will not be forced to allow users to do the sideload of apps, or accept other app stores, or that you have to lower your rate below 30%. As such, the game company will appeal the decision.
Some see last week's decision as a defeat for Apple. However, Apple was the one that came out victorious, since nothing will deviate from the way it wants to manage its app store, nor will it have to integrate Epic in its offer, as was the intention of the publisher of Fortnite.
Although nothing has been definitively resolved, this decision was a heavy blow for Epic, but also for all the companies that sided with it in a battle with Apple.
Today’s ruling isn't a win for developers or for consumers. Epic is fighting for fair competition among in-app payment methods and app stores for a billion consumers. https://t.co/cGTBxThnsP
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 10, 2021
Court ruled that Epic must pay damages
Epic Games has filed an appeal against Friday's ruling in its lawsuit against Apple. The company asked a higher court to re-examine the case and overturn the judge's decision.
Notice that Epic Games, Inc.... appeals to the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit as of the final judgment entered on September 10, 2021.
knee it document.
Little details are given on the legal basis for Epic's appeal, but it is likely that Epic will continue to insist on the federal claims antitrust rejected by the court.
At trial, Epic argued that Apple had a monopoly due to the way it requires developers to use its payment system for in-game purchases. But Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled on Friday that Epic should pay damages to Apple for violating the rules by bypassing its in-game shopping system, while undoing Apple's more restrictive rules on how to guide customers. customers to alternative payment systems.
In addition, the judge concluded that Epic failed to defend Apple as a monopoly in the mobile gaming market, which it turned out to be the relevant market for the company's claims.
The evidence suggests that Apple is close to the precipice of substantial market power, or monopoly power, with its considerable market share,
Wrote Judge Rogers.
However, the judge said the allegations antitrust failed in part "because the [Epic] did not look into this topic".
Therefore, Epic's strategy did not have the desired effect, which would have been to force Apple to open more iOS app stores and lower the 30% rate. It got Apple to accept payments from other sources on iOS apps, but it's scarce for so many demands.
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