Apple loses lawsuit against Epic Games and the result has set precedents

A little over a year ago we share the conflict here on the blog that was created between Apple and Epic Games due to the reason that the latter released an update for Fortnite Battle Royale in which it allowed players to choose where to make their payments and basically be able to omit the 30% commission required by Apple.

Due to this Apple in the first instance eliminated the application from its application store, which resulted in a lawsuit by Epic Games accusing Apple of a monopoly and that later various independent developers and renowned developers joined the cause.

At first things did not look favorable for Epic Games, but it seems that this act that many considered a suicide has had results that have set precedents in the way things were handled.

And is that Judge Yvonne González Rogers recently issued a restraining order in the Epic vs. Apple case on Friday, imposing new restrictions on Apple's App Store rules and ending months of bitter legal wrangling.

As part of the new court order, Apple has a permanent restraining order

«That prohibits developers from including in their applications and their buttons metadata, external links or other calls to action that direct customers to the purchase mechanisms, in addition to in-application purchases and communication with customers to through contact points voluntarily obtained from customers by registering an account in the application ".

In summary, iOS apps should be able to direct users to payment options beyond what Apple offers. The order is expected to go into effect in 90 days, on December 9, unless a higher court makes a different decision.

It is likely that by then, the great consumer electronics brand appeal to challenge the conclusions of the sentence. The commissions that Apple charges with its in-app system are a source of income for the group, since they reach 15 or 30% of the value of the purchase.

In a separate ruling, the court claimed that Epic Games violated its contract with Apple when it implemented the alternative payment system in the Fortnite app. As a result, Epic has to pay Apple 30% of all revenue raised through the system since its implementation, which is more than $ 3,5 million.

After this Epic victory, the repercussions were immediate: on Friday, Apple shares suffered their biggest drop in months. The stock fell 3,3%, its biggest drop since May 4, pushing the iPhone maker's market capitalization to about $ 85.000 billion.

Analysts said that while the move had the potential to affect Apple's service revenue, a major growth driver in recent years, the effects of the backlash were not yet clear, would be time-spaced, and would not represent just one. small fraction of total income.

In essence Epic seems to have gotten what it wanted: the ability to offer its payment system to avoid the 30% commission charged by Apple.

In fact, Apple can no longer restrict iPhone owners from using its payment system (which could be a blow to the business model of the App Store), but justice has not complied with the accusations of monopoly and anti-competitive behavior. In addition, Epic was also ordered to pay damages to Apple for having imposed its payment system on the iOS version of Fortnite.

Though Epic Games is still banned from the app store And, according to the court ruling, Apple has every right to keep the publisher of the game away from its platform. Therefore, Epic has fought for the right of other developers to offer alternative payment systems, but will not be able to take advantage of them on its own.

Apple particularly relies on big developers like Epic, who have enough profits to pay 30% commissions and generate most of the revenue from the App Store.

Importantly, the court order isn't limited to games or in-app payments, so it's unclear which part of the developer base will be leaving Apple's payment system. If this happens, Apple could be forced to permanently abandon the commission system.