On September 10, a judge made a ruling on the court case of Apple v. Epic Games. The judge ruled against Epic Games’ claims that Apple holds a monopoly on payment methods for mobile games. Likewise, the judge also ruled in favor of Apple in its countersue of Epic Games. Epic Games will now have to pay 30% of the total revenue it earned while on Apple’s app because Epic breached its contract with Apple.
On that note, the judge also ruled that Apple App Store shouldn’t be the only option for customers to pay for apps and in-game items. The judge gave Apple 90 days to allow other payment methods on their apps.
On September 22, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney sent out a series of Tweets revealing that Apple doesn’t plan to bring back Fortnite on its app. Sweeney also added that Fortnite is backlisted from Apple. This is despite Sweeney’s claims that Epic Games is willing to follow Apple’s rules and regulations. Sweeney shared screenshots of messages between the two companies, including one showing Epic Games willing to follow Apple’s guidelines again last week.
Sweeney wrote that Apple’s decision to not bring back Fortnite on their app goes against the company’s promise that it will add Fortnite again if Epic Games follow its rules. Sweeney expressed that he believes Apple is allowed to get away with blacklisting them because of the fact they won their court case. Sweeney also believes the move is anti-competitive.
The conflict between Apple and Epic Games began in 2020 when Apple removed Fortnite from the Apple app store. Epic Games was using its own payment method to get around Apple’s fees. Apple saw it as a breach of contract, which details that Apple receives 30% of all revenue made on its app.
Sweeney promises that Epic Games will continue fighting, citing the need for regulation and legislative action.
