The famous Epic Games vs. Apple legal battle has kick-started again at the United States Court of Appeals. Both parties are in court to get the former verdict overturned which was predominantly in favor of Apple.
In 2020, Epic Games released an update on its Fortnite app on iOS with a direct payment system which violated App Store’s rules because it barred Apple from charging a 30% commission for in-app purchases.
Consequently, when the tech company removed Fortnite from its App Store, Epic Games filed an anti-trust lawsuit accusing it of crushing competition and wanted the court to allow a third-party payment system on iOS.
To Epic’s dismay, the district court ruled that the developer breached its contract by pushing an unauthorized update and ordered it to pay $6 million in damages. Although the court also found that Apple did not violate anti-trust laws, the tech company was ordered to allow developers to add links to external payment methods outside the App Store to provide consumers with more choices.
Watch the Epic Games vs. Apple appeals live on YouTube
Following the verdict, both companies filed their appeals. Epic Games claimed that the district court and Apple made “errors” and in response, the Cupertino tech giant called Epic’s accusations “unprecedented” and “unfounded”.
The tech giant has also filed an appeal at the Ninth Circuit to stop App Store changes ordered by the district court.
U.S. Department of Justice is going to speak at the hearing from Epic’s side against Apple’s walled garden and its anti-steering policy. Epic also has Microsoft also in its appeal.
You can watch the hearing live on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit YouTube channel. We will update this article with new developments made in this case.
