Apple wins court case with Epic Games that has been going on for almost 3 years: Why was Apple sued?

Apple has won the court case with Epic Games that has been going on for almost three years. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 2021 decision and disagreed with Epic Games' claims that Apple violated federal law by not allowing competing commercial platforms on its iOS platform.

In August 2020, Epic Games filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple after it tried to circumvent Apple's 30% commission with a new direct payment method in the Fortnite video game, resulting in the game being removed from the App Store along with the developer account.

Epic Games went to court, not demanding monetary compensation, but wanting to force Apple to change its App Store policy. Epic Games opposes the 30% commission that Apple charges for each in-app purchase. The company is also against the fact that Apple does not allow developers to make sales by bypassing the App Store.

In September 2021, District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers largely acquitted Apple, finding that the company's policies were not monopolistic. Epic Games tried to challenge this decision by appealing to the Court of Appeals.

As reported by Bloomberg.com, the decision made by the Court of Appeals in favor of Apple also contributed to the fact that after the start of the proceedings with Epic Games, Apple made a number of changes to the App Store to resolve the problems of game and app developers.

"Today’s decision reaffirms Apple’s resounding victory in this case, with nine of ten claims having been decided in Apple’s favor. For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels. The App Store continues to promote competition, drive innovation, and expand opportunity, and we’re proud of its profound contributions to both users and developers around the world,” Apple said in a statement on the court's decision.

The company's statement also says it disagrees with the court's only ruling in favor of Epic Games, which requires Apple to allow game and app developers to include links to third-party payment systems in their products. Apple hopes to appeal this decision, but it is not yet known whether it will be able to do so or not.

Official representatives of Epic Games have not yet commented on the court's decision. However, it should be noted that Epic Games will have to compensate for all of Apple's legal costs, as well as damages caused by bypassing the App Store's internal purchasing system.