Epic Games v. Apple: the fight for the future of the App Store

Shortly after appeals court judges ruled against Apple’s contempt appeal in a years-long antitrust dispute against the makers of Fortnite, I got to talk to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney in an interview. According to Sweeney, today’s ruling “completely shuts down” Apple’s App Store rules that allow it to collect “junk fees.”

The three-judge Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel largely affirmed an April ruling that Apple failed to comply with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’s 2021 order allowing app developers to link to external payment options, which Sweeney said “... is really awesome for all developers.”

Epic Games has announced that it’s bringing Fortnite back to iOS in Australia, after the country’s federal court ruled that Apple and Google’s app marketplaces are anticompetitive. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said on X that Fortnite will be made available on iPhones via the Epic Games Store “at a date to be determined,” while the company navigates the complexities of Australia’s antitrust ruling.

Epic sued Google in Australia in March 2021, after suing Apple in November 2020. A single court is handling both cases in parallel, even though they weren’t filed at the same time.

Fortnite is once again available on the iOS App Store in the US, according to Epic Games. You can get it from the App Store here. Epic says it has returned to the Epic Games Store and AltStore as well.

Apple kicked Fortnite off the App Store nearly five years ago after Epic Games added its own in-app payment system to the game, which violated Apple’s rules. But after a major court ruling in Epic Games v. Apple that forced Apple to not take fees from purchases made outside of apps, the game is available to play on US iPhones once again.

Epic is asking District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to order Apple to review — and approve if compliant with Apple’s guidelines — Epic’s submission of Fortnite to the US App Store in a new court filing. The company argues in the document that Apple is once again in contempt of the judge’s April order restricting it from rejecting apps over their use of outside payment links.

In a letter from Apple that Epic shared late Friday, Apple writes that it won’t “take action on the Fortnite app submission until after the Ninth Circuit rules on our pending request for a partial stay of the new injunction.” Epic claims the delay is retaliation for its legal fight with the company, and notes in its filing that Apple “expressly and repeatedly” told it and the court that it would approve Fortnite if the app complied with Apple’s guidelines, which it insists its current submission does.

Fortnite maker Epic Games has announced that Apple has blocked the game’s return to iOS. Following the rejection, Fortnite is no longer available on iPhones and iPads even in the European Union, where it had previously been available to download through the Epic Games Store.

“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union,” the company posted on the official Fortnite X account. “Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”

Epic Games has been waiting for Apple to approve Fortnite for the US iOS App Store for nearly a week, and now Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is using X to try and put pressure on Apple. On Thursday, he highlighted examples of Fortnite lookalikes that are currently on the App Store and made a direct appeal to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In one post, Sweeney included screenshots of the App Store listing for a game called Fort Battle Royale Epic Shoot. A screenshot in the app listing shows a game with Fortnite-inspired graphics, but it’s clear if you look closely that it isn’t the real Fortnite. “Hey @AppStore can we get the real Fortnite up pls?” Sweeney asked.

Apple asked a judge to halt an order forcing it to give up control over App Store payments while it appeals the decision. In a filing on Wednesday, Apple says the order contains “extraordinary intrusions” that could result in “grave irreparable harm” to the company.

Last week, California District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple was in “willful violation” of a 2021 injunction issued as part of the Epic Games v. Apple case. As a result, the judge ordered Apple to stop collecting an up to 27 percent commission on purchases made outside the App Store, and said the company can no longer restrict how developers point users toward external purchases.

Epic Games plans to use its Sweden developer account to submit Fortnite to Apple’s US iOS App Store, according to CEO Tim Sweeney.

On Wednesday, following the major ruling in Epic Games v. Apple that blocked Apple from collecting fees on purchases outside of apps, Sweeney said that Fortnite would return to the US App Store “next week.” (Apple has appealed the ruling.) But Apple terminated Epic’s App Store developer account in 2020 after Epic introduced an in-app payment system into Fortnite that ultimately led to the whole legal battle, so it was unclear how Epic might bring the game back to the US App Store until Sweeney’s post.

After a stinging rebuke in the lower courts over its legal battle with Epic, Apple filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit on Monday. The appeal will challenge last week’s ruling that prevents the company from charging developers fees on purchases made outside the App Store.

In 2021, the Epic v. Apple lawsuit resulted in a court order enjoining Apple from anti-steering activities — that is, hindering developers from telling users to make purchases outside of the app. The case was revived last year when Epic Games alleged that Apple had violated that court order.

Apple has approved an update to Spotify’s iPhone app that makes it the first major app to support direct links for US users to pay for plans on an external site, without restrictions. Apple has been forced to change its rules on external payments following an order in its ongoing case against Epic Games. The updated app, version 9.0.40, is rolling out now on the App Store.

“In a victory for consumers, artists, creators, and authors, Apple has approved Spotify’s U.S. app update,” Spotify spokesperson Jeanne Moran told The Verge. “After nearly a decade, this will finally allow us to freely show clear pricing information and links to purchase, fostering transparency and choice for U.S. consumers. We can now give consumers lower prices, more control, and easier access to the Spotify experience.”

Spotify says it has submitted an update to its iOS app that would, among other things, let US customers use payment options that aren’t Apple’s, according to a blog post. The update submission follows Wednesday’s major Epic Games v. Apple ruling that forces Apple not to take a cut of payments on non-Apple payment systems and stops Apple from dictating how developers can tell users about outside payments.

“While other governments around the world have taken steps against Apple’s harmful practices, this is, by far, the most consequential action to date – and it delivers the benefits that all consumers deserve around the world,” Spotify says.

Epic Games is making some big changes to its store to provide an enticing alternative to Apple’s in-app purchases for developers. The company is announcing the changes less than a day after a major court ruling that mandates that Apple can’t collect fees on purchases made outside of apps or restrict how they point to off-platform payments, meaning that more developers may choose to direct users to other payment options.

Beginning in June, Epic says that for any payments processed via the Epic Games Store, developers will pay a zero percent revenue share – meaning developers themselves will keep all of their revenue – “on their first $1,000,000 in revenue per app per year,” according to a blog post. After that, Epic’s typical 88 / 12 percent revenue share will kick in. Apple and Google offer a lowered commission rate on sales below $1 million, too, but only to 15 percent versus Epic’s zero.

In her ruling banning Apple from charging a commission on purchases made outside the App Store, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers says that an Apple executive “outright lied under oath.”

According to Gonzalez Rogers, Alex Roman, vice president of finance at Apple, gave testimony that was “replete with misdirection and outright lies.” The judge writes that Roman lied when testifying that Apple hadn’t decided on the 27 percent number for its fee on purchases outside the App Store until January 16th, 2024.

Following a court order that blocks Apple from taking a commission on purchases made outside the App Store, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says on X that the company plans to bring Fortnite back to iOS in the US “next week.”

The app hasn’t been available on iOS in the US since August 2020, when Apple kicked it off the App Store for implementing Epic’s own in-app payment system in violation of Apple’s rules. Since then, Apple and Epic have been embroiled in an ongoing legal battle, including a ruling more in Apple’s favor in 2021 and today’s ruling that is a major victory for Epic.