After a long legal dispute, the US Supreme Court ruled today that Apple will have to relax some of its App Store policies. More specifically, the company now has to let developers offer alternative payment methods. Still, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney isn’t happy with the final terms and says the company will contest Apple’s “bad-faith compliance plan.”
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As our friends at 9to5Google reported last night, Epic Games scored a major victory in its legal battle with Google. The jury in the case determined that Google has an “illegal monopoly” with the Play Store and Google Play billing, a far better outcome than what Epic Games achieved in its fight against Apple and the App Store.
In a new interview with CNBC, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney attributed the different outcomes to the fact that “Apple didn’t write anything down.”
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Yesterday saw an Epic Games victory in its court case against Google, a jury finding that the Play Store was indeed operated in an anti-competitive fashion.
This is despite the fact that Epic mostly lost a near-identical case against Apple back in 2021. The differing conclusions in the two cases puts Apple back under pressure …
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Epic is taking its legal fight with Apple to the Supreme Court, and the company behind the game Fortnite isn’t happily standing by for results.
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After a prolonged court battle between Epic Games and Apple following Fortnite’s removal from the App Store, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple could no longer prohibit iOS developers from selling content in their apps using third-party payment platforms. The company tried to appeal the ruling with the judge but was denied. Now Apple is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the decision.
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Epic Games is known for its popular game Fortnite, but the company also has another important product – the Unreal Engine, which is a 3D creation tool used not only to produce games but also apps and even virtual sets for Hollywood movies and shows. The company on Thursday announced Unreal Engine 5.2, which comes with native support for Apple Silicon Macs for the first time.
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Apple once again has proven victorious in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games. As reported by Bloomberg, the US Ninth Circuit of Appeals has upheld the decision first handed down in November of 2021, which found that Apple is not a “monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws.”
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Back in December, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hit Fortnite maker Epic Games with the “largest penalty ever” for violations against children over privacy issues and tricking them into purchases. Now $245 million of the total $520 million penalty has been finalized for those who were victims of “dark patterns” that led to unwanted and unknown in-game charges. We’ll also cover how to get a refund if you believe you or your family was impacted by Epic’s practices.
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It’s been more than two years since the popular game Fortnite was removed from the App Store after Epic Games updated it with a payment system that bypassed Apple’s in-app purchases. However, as Apple is now rumored to allow alternative app stores on the iPhone and iPad, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has teased that Fortnite will return to iOS soon.
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Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is doubling down on his battle against Apple and the App Store. In a new interview with The Verge, Sweeney threatened to take the long-running lawsuit between Epic and Apple to the Supreme Court, while saying that “every politician should fear the rise of corporate power that Apple is creating.”
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Earlier this year, Epic Games announced a new app called RealityScan that lets users scan objects and turn them into high-fidelity 3D models using the iPhone and iPad camera. After months of beta testing, RealityScan is now finally available for everyone on the iOS App Store.
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Last year’s Epic Games versus Apple ruling left both sides unhappy with the result, each filing its own appeal. An appeals hearing took place on Monday, and the intention and effect of the Apple ecosystem – aka the “Apple walled garden” – was the core issue debated.
Apple made the case that the ecosystem is designed to keep iPhone users safe from malware and scams, while Epic argued that the iPhone maker is simply afraid of competition …
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DOJ antitrust lawyers have asked to make 10 minutes of oral argument during the upcoming Apple versus Epic Games appeal. The Department of Justice wants to follow up its previous written brief, which argues that the court erred in finding mostly in Apple’s favor.
Technically, the DOJ isn’t appearing for either side, but the argument it makes supports Epic’s contention that the App Store is in breach of antitrust laws …
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Last year’s Epic Games versus Apple ruling left neither side happy, with both the developer and iPhone maker filing appeals against the judgement. The appeal hearing has now been scheduled for October 21, and it looks set to be an uphill battle for Apple.
Apple and Epic will each get only 20 minutes to make oral arguments, but we may also be hearing from the antitrust division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), and potentially also an argument on behalf of 35 state attorneys general – each of which is effectively siding with Epic …
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“The app store is not a service. The app store is a disservice to developers,” says Epic CEO Tim Sweeney in his latest interview with The Financial Times. In his never-ending battle against the so-called Apple App Store (and Google) monopoly, the owner of Fortnite tackles the Cupertino policy and calls Facebook an ally on the metaverse.
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Epic Games announced on Monday a new app called “RealityScan,” which will let anyone use the iPhone camera to scan objects and turn them into high-fidelity 3D models. The app was developed using technologies from Capturing Reality, a company specializing in photogrammetry that was acquired by Epic in 2021.
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Apple last year requested a delay in the App Store changes that were required as a result of the Epic Games vs. Apple ruling. We now have access to Apple’s filings with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the case.
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The Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) – which is primarily a voice for Epic Games, Spotify, and Tinder parent company Match in their antitrust fight with Apple over App Store commissions – has lost a second key figure.
In December of last year, Spotify’s legal officer Horacio Gutierrez left the company to join Disney. Today we’re learning that CAF executive director Meghan DiMuzio is also moving on …
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The White House and 35 US states have filed amicus briefs in support of the Epic Games antitrust appeal against Apple.
All are essentially arguing that the original judge made a legal error in deciding how a key antitrust law applies to the Cupertino company …
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A proposed new US antitrust law first proposed back in August of last year has progressed to committee stage – the next step toward becoming law. If it were passed, it would result in huge changes to the App Store.
It follows Apple being forced to allow app developers to choose third-party payment platforms in South Korea and the Netherlands – but the US bill would have a far greater impact …
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A couple of days ago, a report showed that Microsoft tried to negotiate with Apple to release Xbox-exclusive games on the App Store. Now a new story reveals that the Redmond company wasn’t the only one trying to do so as Sony was also planning to bring PlayStation Now to mobile phones.
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Epic’s battle with Apple, in which both sides claimed victory, is at least partly motivated by the developer’s metaverse ambitions, suggests a new report today. The term was used by Facebook, which even renamed the company to reflect its goals in this area.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said there’s a race to be the first metaverse company to get a billion users …
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“Apple must be stopped,” said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, at an app conference in South Korea. He also said that Google was “crazy” in the way it handled app purchases …
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The battle between Epic Games and Apple continues. Earlier this month, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple must allow App Store developers to redirect users to other payment systems. The judge sided with Apple on all other claims, leading Apple to call the ruling a “resounding victory,” while Epic filed an appeal.
Now, Apple has reportedly denied Epic’s request to reinstate its developer account, which would allow it to bring Fortnite back to the App Store.
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