Epic Games has told a judge that Apple has not properly complied with a court order requiring the Cupertino firm to make non-App Store purchasing options available to third-party developers. (Via Bloomberg)
In January, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear separate appeal requests from both parties in their long-standing legal battle over App Store rules.
Apple in September 2023 made a request to the Supreme Court to hear its appeal over the portion of a lower court’s ruling that went in Epic’s favor. This was over Apple’s App Store rules that bars developers from directing users to purchase methods outside of the App Store. If users do not make in-app purchases via the App Store, Apple doesn’t get its 15 to 30% cut of the action.
Meanwhile, Epic Games also made a request for the Supremes to make a ruling on the case. The Supremem Court was the last change for Epic Games after losing an appeal earlier in the year, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2023 confirmed a lower court’s ruling that Apple’s App Store rules do not violate antitrust law by not allowing for third-party marketplaces.
Epic in August 2020 implemented a direct payment feature in the iOS version of “Fortnite” in violation of Apple’s App Store policies. Apple subsequently removed the game, and Epic Games filed a lawsuit.
Epic Games had argued that it’s been denied access to iOS, which it claims is an “essential facility” due to the fact it’s been blocked access to the App Store. Apple is specifically accused of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act through “its unlawful denial to Epic and other app distributors of an essential facility—access to iOS.”
Apple has since made changes to its U.S. iOS App Store policies. Developers are now able to direct customers to a non-App Store purchasing option for digital goods. Apple is now allowing devs to feature a single link to a developer website that leads to an in-app purchase alternative. But don’t worry about Apple being able to line its pockets with cash, the Cupertino firm still plans to collect a 12 to 27% cut of the action when content is purchased in that manner.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney on January 16 took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the changes as soon as they were announced and said that it would dispute Apple’s “bad-faith compliance plan” in District Court.
The Bloomberg report says Epic said in a filing Tuesday that it “disputes Apple’s compliance” with previously ordered changes and said it will explain the “non-compliance” in a forthcoming filing.
Meanwhile, Apple is looking to make Epic Games pay $73.4 million in legal fees after Apple won the antitrust case brought against it by the games maker.
Apple came up with the number by totaling its $82,971,401 in legal costs for the case and then adjusted it down to $81,560,362. Apple then deducted 10% from the total to account for Epic’s victory on 1 of 10 counts (Apple’s anti-steering rule).
The court has set a date of March 5, 2024, to hear Apple’s claim about the fees, “plus additional amounts Apple is incurring during this ongoing litigation, under the indemnification provision of the Developer Program License Agreement.”
