Apple denies breaching US court order in Epic Games lawsuit
Apple has denied allegations that it breached a court order related to its App Store practices. The tech giant appealed to a California federal judge last Friday to dismiss a contempt plea by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite. This dispute stems from Apple's submission to US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, who presided over Epic's 2020 lawsuit accusing Apple of violating antitrust laws through its strict control over app downloads and in-app purchases.
Apple accuses Epic of seeking profitability through court intervention
In its submission, Apple criticized what it termed Epic's attempt to make Apple's "tools and technologies available to developers for free." The iPhone maker contended that Epic was trying to leverage the court's intervention "to micromanage Apple's business operations in a way that would increase Epic's profitability." Neither company has yet made any public comment on the ongoing legal conflict, as per Reuters.
Epic lost case, Apple mandated to allow alternative payment methods
Epic Games largely lost its case against Apple in 2021. However, Judge Rogers ruled that Apple must allow developers more flexibility to direct app users toward alternative payment methods for digital goods. Besides this mandate, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Apple against the injunction order in January of this year.
Apple accused of violating court's injunction
In a court filing last month, Epic Games accused Apple of a "blatant violation" of the court's injunction. The gaming company pointed to Apple's imposition of a 27% fee on developers for certain purchases that made alternative payment links "commercially unusable." Furthermore, Epic claimed that Apple prevented some apps from informing users about other available payment methods.
Tech giants support Epic's claims against Apple
Several other tech firms, including Meta, Microsoft, Match Group, and X backed Epic's allegations last month. They informed Judge Rogers that they believe Apple is in "clear violation" of the court's order. A similar case lodged against Alphabet's Google by Epic is expected to result in a separate injunction affecting the Google Play Store later this year. The latest Epic case is officially known as Epic Games Inc v Apple Inc, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 20-05640.
