Video Games

Apple Scores Another Win in Epic Antitrust Dispute

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Apple’s App Store policy, saying it did not violate federal antitrust laws. This ruling confirms previous rulings in antitrust lawsuits brought by Epic Games, bloomberg report.

The latest decision is another blow for Epic, which is in a dispute with Apple over a 30% cut to in-app purchases. Fortnite has been removed from the App Store as a result of the controversy. This is a deliberate PR play intended to weaponize Battle His Royale’s vast fanbase.

The case has been in court since then, with the latest ruling in favor of Apple. However, the court also upheld a 2021 ruling that the App Store violated California’s unfair competition laws, resulting in Apple’s decision to stop developers on its platform from linking their apps to external payment options. was forced to allow

“There is a lively and important debate about the role that market-dominant online trading platforms have played in the economy and democracy,” said the three-member panel of judges. “But our job as the Federal Court of Appeals is not to settle that argument, nor even attempt to do so. Instead, in this decision, we applied existing precedents faithfully to the facts. “

In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple called the decision an “overwhelming victory” but said it was considering further action on the state law ruling.

Epic told IGN in a statement:

Apple won the case in the Ninth Circuit. The court upheld the ruling that Apple’s restrictions had a “substantial anti-competitive effect that would harm consumers,” but held that it did not prove the Sherman Act lawsuit. Fortunately, an affirmative court ruling dismissing Apple’s anti-steering clause now allows the iOS developer to send consumers to her web and conduct transactions directly there. We are working on the next steps.

There is a lively and important debate about the role of market-dominant online trading platforms in our economy and democracy.


In an earlier ruling, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that the dispute was ultimately about “digital mobile game trading,” and that Apple could not conclude that it had a monopoly in that market. was dropped. But the court called Apple’s conduct “anti-competitive,” leading to an injunction. Epic also ordered him to pay $6 million for breach of contract.

According to Bloomberg, the appeals court said the previous ruling was “wrong” in defining the antitrust market in question, but in the end, Epic decided that “the proposed market definition and We have failed to demonstrate the existence of a substantially less restrictive alternative to iOS. ”

Apple and Epic will first face off in 2021 in a court called the “Gamer Trial.” This exposed a number of third-party secrets, much to the chagrin of Sony and others.

Epic hasn’t had much success on the court since then, but Fortnite remains a dominant force in the game even without its presence on the App Store. and closer than ever to its vision of becoming a full-fledged gaming platform of its own. You can read the full interview with Tim Sweeney here.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s Senior News Editor and co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Any tips? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

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