Court puts an end to Epic Games v Apple: allowing third-party payment methods in the App Store and massive fine for Epic Games

The trial between game developer Epic Games and Apple has been ongoing for a long time.

began after the Fortnite game was removed from the App Store. Finally, yesterday, the California District Court issued a final decision on this lawsuit.

Who is right and who is wrong?

In general, Apple won the case, although judging bysoberly and objectively, in fact, there are no winners in this case, since “punishment” is provided for both sides. First of all, Apple was not recognized as a monopolist. “Such a conclusion cannot be reached under either federal or state antitrust laws. However, this trial did show that Apple was engaging in antitrust practices that violated California competition laws,” the judge noted.

But the court ruled that Epic Games stillviolated the agreement by allowing users to purchase in-game currency and goods directly through the Fortnite game app, rather than through Apple's payment service.
As a result, Epic Games must pay a largea fine that is 30% of all revenue received through the Epic Direct Payment system from the moment of its implementation (August - October 2020), as well as 30% of similar income Epic Games received in the period from November 1, 2020 until the court decision. It is estimated that this is more than $3.5 million.

In addition, some of Epic's claims are supported.Games. Thus, the ruling states that Apple “may not prohibit developers from including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to direct in-app purchases.” The court decision is scheduled to take effect in 90 days—December 9.

</ p>