Epic claims Apple violated App Store ruling, wants judge to enforce the order

Epic Games is back for another round in the ring courtroom with Apple, this time calling for Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to enforce her order.

As a quick refresher, Epic’s and Apple’s court battle resulted in a 2021 ruling forcing Apple to let developers link to outside payment options, though that was basically the only part of the ruling that went Epic’s way. Apple then revealed updated developer policies that tacked on a 27 percent fee for outside payments (or 12 percent for small developers).

Epic now says these fees “are essentially the same” as the ones Apple charges for developers who use its payments system. Moreover, the Fortnite maker filed declarations from other developers who took issue with Apple’s new system. That includes Christian Owens, founder of payments processor Paddle, and Down Dog fitness app founder Benjamin Simon.

Owens called Apple’s new choice “illusory,” and Simon claimed his company would still need to charge more for the iOS version of its service than for the web version.

There are also concerns around the buttons Apple allows developers to use to steer customers away from the App Store. Apple requires the use of “Plain Button Style” — Epic says these aren’t actually buttons and, therefore, violates an injunction against Apple preventing developers from steering customers to alternate payments. Epic also claims that Apple isn’t allowing multi-platform apps to point to outside payments, another alleged violation of the judge’s order.

However, as The Verge points out, the original order didn’t specifically mention steering, so it comes down to how the judge interprets her own order. The publication cites some external observers who think Epic has a decent argument and that Apple’s new alternate payment terms likely wouldn’t be accepted by the court.

Source: The Verge