Epic Games, the developer of “Fortnite,” accused Apple of violating a court order related to its App Store and urged a California federal judge to hold the tech giant in contempt. The allegations were presented in a filing to US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over Epic’s 2020 lawsuit against Apple for alleged antitrust violations due to its strict control over app downloads and transactions within them.
In its filing, Epic claimed that Apple was charging developers a 27% fee on some purchases and making alternative payment links commercially unusable, which it argued was in violation of the court’s injunction order issued in 2021. Epic also accused Apple of preventing some apps from informing users about other payment options. Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Elon Musk’s X, and Match Group supported Epic’s claims by stating that Apple was clearly violating the court’s order.
Although Epic largely lost its case against Apple in 2020, Rogers ordered Apple to provide developers with more freedom to direct app users to alternative payment methods for digital goods. The US Supreme Court declined to hear Apple’s appeal of the injunction order in January. However, this legal battle between Epic Games and Apple continues to unfold in the US District Court, Northern District of California under the case name Epic Games Inc v Apple Inc (No. 20-05640).
