Apple vs Epic Games : match nul, pour l’instant ?

For several months, Epic Games and Apple have been at war. The second dislodged the first from its iOS App Store for behavior contrary to the platform's conditions of use. To put it simply, Epic Games, mainly for its game Fortnite, at the end of last year, introduced a method offering players the possibility of making payments without Apple's App Store tax being applicable. This allowed the developer to avoid inflating prices for purchases made in Fortnite made from iOS or to recover more money from iOS players.

In any case, this did not please the main party who quickly blocked the Epic Games account and therefore made the Fortnite game inaccessible on iOS.

Since then, the battle has raged between the two companies. But yesterday, a first verdict was given by the American courts.

Apple does not have a monopoly

According to the judge who led the trial, Applecannot be considered in a monopoly position with the App Store as it stands. This statement is very meaningful, especially in the country of Uncle Sam, who is very close on the subject, historically, but also very recently with the tech giants, or GAFAM, the subject of numerous criticisms in terms of anti-competitive practices. .

But, because there is a “but”, Apple will no longer have the right, from December 2021, to prevent developers taking advantage of its App Store from offering a link to its users redirecting them, for payments,outside the apple platform. And this, not only for reader type applications,for which Apple has already changed its conditions recently, but for all types of applications, including games.

Fortunately for the Cupertino giant, this may have little impact on App Store revenues, as many specialists have already pointed out. Because, in handling, for the user, the fact of having to leave the App Store to go and pay directly to the developer keeps the purchase away and therefore the desire to take out the wallet. For a user to pay, they must be given the path as far as possible and without any obstacles. Apple therefore still retains a certain advantage at this level.

Epic Games must pay

Epic Games, for its part, is reaping the fruits of its non-compliance with the conditions imposed by Apple. The developer is ordered to pay damages to Tim Cook's company. Specifically, the fine amounts to 30% of the $12,167,719 collected by the Epic Direct Payment payment system plus 30% of the revenue collected since November 1, 2020 by Epic Games games (on iOS only probably) until the date of the judgment.

On Twitter, each side takes part of the victory. If it does indeed seem complex to give a winner,Epic Games has decided to appeal the court decision. The developer therefore leaves the trial dissatisfied. Apple, for its part, celebrates the judgment and even describes it as a “resounding victory”. Either way, the battle is far from over. As for those hoping for a quick return of Fortnite to iOS… Strength to you!

Editor-in-chief for iPhon.fr. Pierre is like Indiana Jones, looking for the lost iOS trick. Also a long-time Mac user, Apple devices hold no secrets for him. Contact: pierre[a]iphon.fr.