After three long years, the anti-trust lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games has finally come to a close due to a judge declining appeals from both sides, and Epic Games appears to be facing the brunt of legal fees.
Back in December, the Google vs. Epic Games lawsuit ended with Epic Games coming out on top. The jury found Google guilty of engaging in anti-competitive practices, and many on the internet thought this could mean Epic would win its other multi-million dollar lawsuit against Apple as well, and today that was proven to be not the case as the ruling determined that Apple’s App Store policies limiting how software is distributed and paid for, do not violate federal antitrust laws. The judges have also denied appeals on both sides and did not give a reason for the appellate denial.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to lament the outcome saying “The court battle to open iOS to competing stores and payments is lost in the United States. A sad outcome for all developers.” In further posts on his X account, Tim Sweeney has outlined some of the reasons why the court ruled this way, including Apple’s compliance plan on how developers can use their storefronts or their ‘own’ methods to sell their games. The method still nets Apple a 27% cut of proceeds of sales done in this way, including auto subscription renewals.
The Apple compliance plan says “Apple’s commission will be 27% on proceeds you earn from sales (“transactions“) to the user for digital goods or services on your website after a link out (i.e., they tap “Continue” on the system disclosure sheet), provided that the sale was initiated within seven days and the digital goods or services can be used in an app.”
The court ruling does force Apple to allow app developers to provide links and buttons that direct consumers to other ways to pay for digital content that they use in their apps, but Epic Games remains on the hook for a wealth of legal fees. According to Gamesfray Apple wants Epic Games to pay $73,404,326, and Epic Games is responsible for “breaching developer agreement” by providing the links and buttons for an alternate payment method before the court’s ruling required Apple to allow these methods.
While the lawsuit appears to have concluded in the US, Epic Games is ordered to pay $73,404,326 to Apple in the aftermath. While the legal battle does appear to be over for now (in the US at least), members who have been watching the case closely can head over to Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney’s X account for more information.
