The dispute lasted almost three years.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2021 trial court ruling, disagreeing with Epic Games’ claims that Apple violated federal law by not allowing any competing marketplaces on its iOS platform, Bloomberg reports.
Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against the iPhone maker was filed in August 2020 after the company attempted to bypass Apple’s 30% fee with a new direct payment method in Fortnite, resulting in the game being removed from the App Store and the Epic Games developer account being terminated.
the company emerged victorious in a lengthy legal battle with Epic Games
Today’s decision confirms Apple’s resounding victory in this case, as nine out of ten lawsuits were decided in favor of Apple. For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple complies with state and federal antitrust laws. The App Store continues to support competition, drive innovation, and empower, and we’re proud of the App Store’s significant contributions to both users and developers around the world. We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision on the one remaining lawsuit under state law and are considering further review.
Official representatives of Epic Games did not comment on this outcome. Epic Games will have to compensate for all Apple’s costs of litigation, as well as damages for bypassing the App Store in-app purchase system.
Even after the decision of the court of first instance, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney wrote to Apple asking to reactivate the Fortnite developer account and promised to “follow Apple’s recommendations whenever and wherever we release products on Apple platforms.” But Apple denied the request and said it would not consider bringing Fortnite back to the App Store until the legal battle with Epic was over.
