- The lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple that made headlines for weeks has now come to an end
- Although Epic lost on nine out of ten instances, it did hit where it mattered
- Apple’s policies were found to be anti-competitive and the company will be forced to allow developers to link payment options of their choice.
The Epic vs Apple lawsuit drew its curtains with the former paying $3.6 million and the latter being obliged to allow developers to use their own payment methods.
The End of an Important Industry Event
The case between Epic Games and Apple has finally ended with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers making a conclusive decision: Epic will have to pay Apple for the court fees. At the same time, Apple’s practices were found to be anti-competitive and the company will be forced to undergo a change.
Gonzalez-Rogers did not see Apple as a monopolist and announced that success doesn’t equal a monopoly. However, she did disagree with the way Apple handles things and found them to be in breach of the California competition laws. The judge was especially unsatisfied with the fact that Apple has been intentionally trying to hide crucial information from its customers and to influence their opinions.
Following the injunction, Apple will have to comply with the fact it can no longer forbid App Store developers from hyperlinking non-Apple payment methods. Breaching this order will result in sanctions for the company. It takes power in ninety days.
Epic Games’ chief executive officer Tim Sweeney wasn’t very content with how things played out since he was really keen on reaching a conclusion where Apple has to allow apps to use in-app non-Apple related payment methods instead of only linking them. Yet, what Epic achieved is far from negligible.
A Step for Reshaping the App Industry
Developers have long known Apple for its strict policies and high fees. Epic intentionally provoked Apple by adding in-app purchase options into Fortnite, which eventually resulted in the game getting removed from the App Store and by extension – the lawsuit.
However, the tech company has been receiving a lot of pressure from other parties as well. Other big names have also found issues with Apple’s way of taxing developers. Together with Basecamp, Match Group, and Spotify, Epic Games formed the “Coalition for App Fairness”. Spotify even ended up appealing to European authorities against Apple’s practices.
Despite Epic Games not winning by a landslide, its efforts will likely have an effect as they mark an important step to a freer app market.
