The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Apple’s appeal of the Epic Games ruling, reversing its decision to decline the case in January 2024. The decision lets Apple challenge a contempt finding and contest the breadth of an injunction that requires the company to let developers link users to alternative payment options outside the App Store.
Reuters reports that Apple is challenging two core issues: that a court order must clearly and unambiguously prohibit specific conduct before a party can be held in contempt of violating it, and that the injunction extends far beyond Epic itself, applying to all registered developers worldwide with apps on the U.S. App Store storefront, including developers that were never part of the case and even companies that compete with Epic. The company argues this directly conflicts with the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Trump v. CASA, which limited the ability of federal courts to issue broad injunctions that go beyond the parties actually involved in a case.
The underlying dispute traces back to 2020, when Epic used a server-side update to bypass Apple’s In-App Purchase system inside Fortnite after the app had already passed App Review. Apple removed the game from the App Store, and Epic sued. In 2021, the court largely upheld Apple’s App Store model but ruled that Apple could no longer block developers from directing users to alternative payment options. Apple complied by allowing link-outs but charged a 12 to 27 percent fee instead of its standard 15 to 30 percent fee.
That half-hearted compliance led to further legal action. In April 2025, a judge found Apple in contempt of court for willfully violating the 2021 injunction. Apple appealed, and the Ninth Circuit gave the company a partial win, reversing the outright ban on any commission but upholding the contempt finding. The court then sent the case back to determine what commission Apple can charge on purchases made outside the App Store. Apple has collected no money for link-outs in third-party apps since April 2025.
Epic Games responded aggressively, stating: “The Supreme Court has already rejected Apple’s attempt to overturn the injunction in this case. This challenge to the contempt order is one last Hail Mary to delay a conclusion to this case and avoid opening up the gates to payment competition for the benefit of consumers.” Fortnite returned to the App Store in every country except Australia in May, as Epic declared it was entering the “final battle” of the legal dispute.
