Epic fails in court: Apple's Fortnite ban is okay

(Bloomberg) – Apple Inc. eliminated the need to immediately rebuild Fortnite from Epic Games Inc. in its App Store, marking the first triumph of an iPhone manufacturer in an escalating battle over fees charged to app developers.

The attempt by the Epic lawyers to force Apple to release Fortnite on iOS has failed for the time being. However, the Cupertino group was given the provisional condition not to deny third parties the use of the Unreal Engine.

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers yesterday invited both companies to their first hearing, during which the dispute, which has been going on for several days, must be resolved. Apple largely blocked Epic with its products on its iOS platform after the game company wanted to forward in-app purchases to Fortnite through the payment channels of the app store and thus avoid Apple commissions.

After the judge listened to both sides, she explained in a rather Solomon manner that the day probably won’t end with a big victory for both sides, according to a report from the Bloombergemerges news agency. She also dashed hopes that her preliminary decisions may already provide clues to how things might end in the end. First of all, Apple and Epics’ lawyers are due to reappear on Friday. Then comes the question of how to decide on Epic’s injunction application.

The Fortnite ban was initially fully justified, Rogers said. In the end, Epic clearly violated contractual agreements with Apple by introducing its own payment method. This statement applies regardless of whether the App Store policies are generally legal. According to the judge, this is an extremely difficult question that cannot be answered promptly and in relation to this particular case.

Epic also charges commissions

As Rogers pointed out, Apple can certainly take on the right to authorize financial transactions with fees only. On the other hand, Epic can hardly have anything because the company also claims a share of the sales generated by third parties when selling its games through the Epic Games Store. Here it is necessary to clarify whether Apple has to meet special requirements due to its monopoly position – but this is a rather complex issue that cannot be clarified in one or two district court hearings.

According to the judge, this goes too far when Apple puts obstacles in the way of completely uninvolved developers using the Unreal Engine, just because it is also provided by Epic. After all, neither the rendering technology nor the associated developer tools violate App Store guidelines. “Epic Games and Apple can sue each other, but their dispute should not lead to chaos for outside observers,” said the judge.