Epic Games’ landmark lawsuit against Apple is nearing a conclusion in a case where both sides can claim a victory.
At stake is the fate of a portion of Apple’s App Store revenue which in 2022 was a whopping $US1.1 trillion. According to Apple, 90 percent of billings and sales accrue solely to developers, without any commission paid to Apple.
The tech giant says these billings and sales are growing 20 percent year-on-year.
“New analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute found the iOS app economy now supports more than 4.8 million jobs across the US and Europe, with approximately 2.4 million in each region,” Apple said in a statement in May 2023.
However there has been agitation by some developers over the App Store remaining a “walled garden” with App Store sales officially restricted to within Apple’s ecosphere. There’s also the question of whether developers can link to payment sites external to the App Store.
In August 2020, Fortnite developer Epic Games took Apple to court, challenging its ability to stop developers directing customers to payment sites outside the App Store for in-app purchases.
The trial, which began in May 2021, seemed to come out overwhelmingly in Apple’s favour, including on the issue of its right to charge a 30 percent cut for developer apps sold through the App Store. Apple won on nine of the ten counts.
However Epic Games prevailed on the important issue of allowing developers to direct users to external payments sites, which Apple prevents under so-named “anti-steering restrictions”.
Apple has sought to appeal this last judgement finding, and this week it was granted permission to delay unravelling its anti-steering rules for 90 days to pursue further court action against Epic.
The case became high-profile after Apple banned Fortnite from the App Store until litigation is completed.
It has also drawn in other big tech players; Facebook, Spotify and Microsoft are among those who support Epic Games in the court action.
