Epic vs. Apple Lawsuit: Everything We Know About the Lawsuit

The lawsuits and legal filings between Apple and Epic Games appear to be finally nearing completion, with a lawsuit scheduled for May 2021.

The past few months have certainly been a wild series of events between the two companies. There are multiple lawsuits from Apple and Epic Games, and it all started with bypassing Apple’s 30% transaction fee on the App Store.

In this article, we’re going to look back at the full series of lawsuits filed by Apple and Epic. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know ahead of the trial between the two companies in May 2021.

Epic Games bypasses Apple’s App Store fee

This whole saga started on August 13th when Epic Games rolled out an update for Fortnite on iOS and Android devices. This update gave players the option to purchase V-Bucks directly from Epic Games itself instead of visiting the App Store on iOS devices and the Google Play Store on Android devices.

When you buy something from the App Store or the Google Play Store, Apple and Google charge a 30% transaction fee. By introducing a way to pay Epic directly for V-Bucks, Epic was able to effectively bypass this transaction fee and lower the price of V-Bucks for players on mobile devices as they didn’t have to pay the transaction fee to Apple or Google.

Apple is taking Fortnite from the App Store

As you can imagine, Apple responded incredibly quickly. Later that same day, August 13, Apple immediately removed Fortnite from the App Store, and shortly thereafter, Google removed the game from the Google Play Store.

It wasn’t a surprising move by Apple. Apple’s source of income for one of the world’s most popular games would always generate a reaction, and Epic was just as quick to respond to Apple delisting Fortnite.

Fortnite’s 1984 parody video

It felt like hardly a time had passed before Epic’s comprehensive answer to Apple was released. On the same day, the video “Nineteen Forty Fortnite,” a trailer by Epic Games in which Fortnite parodied an Apple ad warning of impending corporations that dominate life, aired.

The nineteen eighty Fortnite video was certainly a statement from Epic. Positioning itself as a company that could fight the dominance of the market against another company, Epic led the fight straight back to Apple after Fortnite was delisted from the App Store.

Epic is suing Apple for dominance in the App Store

The nineteen eighty Fortnite video diverted a little attention from Epic’s subsequent lawsuit against Apple. Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple in California claiming it would launch its own app storefront on iOS devices without iOS guidelines.

Epic said it feels obliged to charge more for V-Buck purchases on iOS devices due to Apple’s transaction fees through the App Store. It all boils down to this: Epic’s lawsuit aims to bring its own storefront to iOS devices separate from the App Store, which in turn would open up similar opportunities for other developers.

Microsoft files support Epic versus Apple

Interestingly, Microsoft loudly backed Epic’s lawsuit against Apple. Microsoft filed a letter of support for Epic’s lawsuit against Apple, which mainly focused on Apple’s decision to prevent Epic from accessing the Unreal Engine and updating it for iOS devices.

Microsoft claimed that this would have a disastrous effect on games on iOS devices that were based on the Unreal Engine. This would mean that games that use the Unreal Engine will no longer be updated, so existing bugs and glitches cannot be fixed.

There was also Microsoft’s own history with Apple to consider. Earlier this year, when xCloud was in beta, Microsoft was only able to have one game – Halo: The Master Chief Collection – available for testing on iOS devices, as opposed to the ten games released for the Android beta.

By the time the beta test for xCloud was completed, it was clear that Microsoft’s streaming service could never start on Apple due to the platform owner’s policy of reviewing and certifying every single game. xCloud has now fully launched on Android devices, bringing hundreds of games to the platform via the cloud, but was shot down by Apple. If Epic’s lawsuit against Apple was successful and a third-party storefront was allowed on iOS devices, Microsoft would no longer be bound by Apple’s rules for launching xCloud on iOS devices.

Apple’s Temporary Triumph over Epic in Court

At the end of August, a judge decided in favor of Apple – but only temporarily. U.S. District Court judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided with Apple and decided that Fortnite doesn’t need to be put back on the App Store immediately.

However, the judge also ruled that Apple couldn’t block Epic’s access to the Unreal Engine. The judge emphasized that the verdict was not a “slam dunk” for either side and allowed Epic to continuously update the Unreal Engine, even if Fortnite was not used again in the App Store.

Apple and Epic go to court for a showdown

On October 7, it was announced that Epic and Apple would be on trial next year. In particular, the process to investigate Apple’s dominance as a monopoly for app distribution is scheduled for May 3, 2021.

You should keep an eye on the process next May for a couple of important reasons. One, and most obviously, will determine whether one of the world’s most popular games can ever make its way back to iOS devices.

Second, it will likely be decided whether Epic can still access the Unreal Engine on iOS platforms. As Microsoft noted, this will have a massive impact on iOS games that use the Unreal Engine, and it could really be a big factor in many smaller games that are about to launch on iOS.

Third, the trial version decides whether third-party app store fronts can be launched on Apple devices. This is enormous because if Epic can prove Apple’s dominance as a monopoly on app distribution, each publisher could potentially create their own storefront on iOS devices, opening up a path for potentially endless games to be played on iOS without Apple’s consent -Platforms arrive.

This is where Epic’s lawsuit against Apple plays a big role, and it could have far-reaching consequences for the entire gaming industry.