Epic Games to appeal court ruling in case against Apple
Apple described it as a win. Epic Games was less satisfied and indicated they would appeal.
A Californian court has ruled that Apple’s App Store cannot stop developers from directing customers to third-party payment options; at the same time the court said it cannot ”ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist”.
Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, was not satisfied as he has argued the App Store behaves as a monopoly. He tweeted: “Today’s ruling isn’t a win for developers or for consumers. Epic is fighting for fair competition among in-app payment methods and app stores for a billion consumers.”
Today’s ruling isn’t a win for developers or for consumers. Epic is fighting for fair competition among in-app payment methods and app stores for a billion consumers. https://t.co/cGTBxThnsP
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 10, 2021
Apple tweeted: “Today the Court has affirmed what we’ve known all along/ The App Store is not in violation of antitrust law. Apple faces rigorous competition in every segment in which we do business, and we believe customers and developers choose us because our products and services are the best in the world.”
When Epic Games launched its game Fortnight, the company challenged Apple App Store rule that all payments must be via the stores’ built-in payment system. Epic said such rules are monopolistic and included its own payment system as an alternative which led the store to block the Fortnight game. Epic took the case to court.
The stores’ payment rules have been criticized by developers as the stores take up the 30% commission and by politicians saying that the payment rules limits competition.
Apple has recently in several steps modestly modified its App Store payment rules allowing developers to have more direct contact with customers and not forcing all to only go via the store. Apple has also said it lowers the commission from 30% to 15% for smaller developers.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers at the Oakland court has now ruled that “the court cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist”. But she also ruled that Apple can no longer prohibit developers linking to their own purchasing mechanisms.
This means that competitors could offer games to a lower price with customers avoiding buying for instance games via the App Store which could hurt Apple. During the court discussions it has been revealed that 70% of the store’s revenue is gaming apps.
Gonzales-Rogers was by US media quoted: “Apple enjoys considerable market share of over 55% and extraordinary high profit margins. These factors alone do not show antitrust conduct. Success is not illegal.”
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