Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled on April 30 that Apple must stop taking 27% commissions on sales within apps outside the Apple Store, marking a legal victory for Epic Games. As a result, Epic Games may restore the popular game Fortnite to the iOS store in the US next week.
This ruling benefits not only Epic but also other app companies like Spotify that want to monetize content on Apple devices.
In response, Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to include approved buttons, external links, and other calls to action.
Judge determined Apple violated a 2021 injunction
Gonzalez Rogers said Apple had violated a 2021 injunction stating the tech giant should not engage in anticompetitive pricing. Apple had argued that allowing app makers to point to third-party sites to collect payment could compromise the security of the apps and devices. Funneling payments through Apple also lets customers complete their transactions faster, but app makers lose revenue. Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple to cease collecting the fee on off-app purchases and to remove any barriers between app developers and customer interaction.
Epic argued Apple’s reaction – i.e., reducing the fee from 30% to 27% and specifying ways in which storefronts could be included in apps – amounted to malicious compliance. In 2020, Epic Games had removed Fortnite from Apple devices due to what Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called Apple’s “junk fees.”
Epic Games will return Fortnite to the Apple App Store if Apple removes the fee and embraces the court’s “friction-free framework” for giving customers access to third-party sites, Sweeney said.
Rogers agreed with Epic, calling Apple’s decisions “insubordination.”
“Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated,” Gonzalez Rogers said, according to Reuters. “This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order.”
Apple told TechCrunch it would appeal the decision.
Gonzalez Rogers recommended federal prosecutors address the issue as a criminal contempt case.
SEE: Apple and Meta were fined a combined $800 million for violating the Digital Markets Act, including for Apple’s restriction of third-party purchasing options.
Epic Games also clashed with Google over app store fees
Epic Games has a history of pursuing legal action against app distributors. It waged a similar war against the Google app store, alleging fees for allowing transactions outside of the Google Play app store on Android. Google appealed the initial antitrust ruling in 2024.
The matter is even more complicated in the EU, where Apple lost an antitrust case against Spotify in 2024. In that case, the European Commission determined Apple’s terms and fees for app developers violated the Digital Markets Act.
