It seems that at least once a month, a new development occurs in the Epic vs Apple saga. The latest news involves Epic accusing Apple of imposing excessive fees on third-party app stores, which Epic claims undermines competition. This ongoing case has seen various developments, with Apple recently achieving a minor victory in its appeal against Epic.
Initially, Epic secured a win, leading to an order for Apple to modify its App Store policies in significant ways. Apple attempted to overturn this ruling but was unsuccessful. In October, however, Apple received a favorable ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which slightly reversed parts of the initial decision. Notably, the court upheld the order for Apple to support third-party app stores on iOS. While Apple has complied, Epic argues that its implementation still harms competition.
Epic’s latest assertions follow Apple’s recent compliance with allowing third-party stores on iOS in Japan. According to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, Apple is imposing fees that stifle competition. Specifically, Apple is charging a 21% fee on in-app payments made within third-party apps and 15% on purchases made via the web.
Additionally, one court condition required Apple to permit linking to external sources for payment processing. Sweeney describes these fees as an obstruction and a violation of the law.
He also mentioned that under the current terms, Fortnite cannot return to iOS in Japan. The game was recently reinstated on iOS in the U.S. earlier this year and has recently returned to the Play Store.
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