Apple and Epic Games have been fighting in court for years over a disagreement over the App Store’s 30% platform cut, which led to Fortnite’s removal from the store. Now, Apple’s lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to review a 9th Circuit injunction that currently prevents Apple from using its “anti-direction rules” against iOS app developers.
An anti-direction rule is a legal term that basically means that these developers can’t offer payment methods outside of the app with in-app links, which is exactly what Epic Games tried to do in 2020. By CVGthe Ninth Circuit ruled that Apple cannot prevent developers from including these links or buttons that take players to non-App Store payment options, which would obviously prevent Apple from collecting its 30% reduction on those transactions.
Although Apple suffered this defeat at this latest juncture in the case, the general direction of the legal battle has been largely decided in favor of the iPhone manufacturer. The Ninth Circuit mostly upheld an earlier ruling that found no merit in Epic’s assertions that Apple’s iOS platform violates certain federal laws intended to prevent anticompetitive marketplace behavior. It’s unclear if the Supreme Court will take the case on appeal, but if it does, the resulting ruling will likely have a major impact not only on major video game platform owners, but on digital markets in general.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may earn a share of the revenue if you purchase something featured on our site.
