Epic Games vs Apple: Everything you need to know about the legal battle of two giants

A summary of the three-and-a-half year long legal battle between Epic Games and Apple

Epic Games vs Apple: Everything you need to know about the legal battle of two giants

The legal interaction between gaming giant Epic Games and Apple has lasted for over three and a half years. With multiple lawsuits and legal hearings, this article aims to summarise the battle between the two giants. The situation began in August 2020, when Epic Games filed a suit against Apple for violating federal antitrust laws.

Apple charges a 30% commission for all transactions done through the App Store. Since Apple does not allow alternatives on their devices, all app and in-app purchases must go through the company. This did not sit well with the Fortnite developers, who decided to file a suit against the tech giant. Epic Games further added that Apple was running a monopoly. They said that developers such as themselves should have access to alternatives.

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Epic Games introduced a direct payment system to Fortnite. This allowed players to pay directly through the Epic Games website without having to give Apple a cut. Apple deemed this to violate their policy and removed Fortnite from the App Store. Epic Games will have to give Apple a cut if they wish to put their game back on the store if they are even allowed it. However, Fortnite could soon return to iOS thanks to EU Sideloading rules.

A lower court ruled in favour of Apple, saying that it had not violated any antitrust laws. This led to Epic Games going to the Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court ruling. The US Supreme Court also mentioned that Apple has the exclusive right to establish guidelines within its digital marketplace in any way it wants to.

Epic Games made ten different claims to support their case. However, only one held up as they lost the other nine. The court further ruled that Epic Games must pay $73,404,326 in damages to Apple in legal fees, lawyers hired, and damages caused to the company due to fluctuating market image. Apple claimed that they had been generous with the amount, offering a 10% discount on the total fee. The tech giant claimed $81,560,362 in total legal expenses that it had to pay out of pocket.

Fortnite
Image via: Epic Games

The reason behind this 10% discount, as put forward by Apple, is that Epic Games at least won one out of their ten claims. Apple has also said that Epic Games can’t contest its claim for damages under any circumstances. Because Epic Games breached its contract against Apple, thus leading to such a drawn-out and financially demanding court case.

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