The head of Epic Games, publisher of Fortnite, announced that his company’s legal battle to force Apple to open its iPhones to alternative app stores is “lost” after the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case. “The legal battle to open up iOS to competing stores and payment services is lost in the US,” wrote Tim Sweeney on X. “This is a sad outcome for all developers,” he added.
The Supreme Court denied both sides’ appeals of the Epic v. Apple antitrust case. The court battle to open iOS to competing stores and payments is lost in the United States. A sad outcome for all developers.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic)
January 16, 2024
The Supreme Court announced that it would not hear the appeals of Apple or Epic in the long case, effectively closing the ongoing controversy that began in 2020. The accusation was that of exercising a monopoly on the ‘mobile’ market through Android systems and iOS and developer fees. Apple and Google take up to 30% off all financial transactions made in their app stores, sparking complaints of an unfair “tax.”
Two years ago, following the lawsuit between Apple and Epic, a US federal judge asked Apple to allow publishers to offer alternative payment methods to users, but above all he established that Epic had failed to demonstrate how the Cupertino company had violated the competition law. The two companies appealed this decision, which was reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Tim Sweeney said it is now up to governments and regulators to order Apple to make its iPhones compatible with new payment systems. He also praised the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will make this happen in Europe starting March 7.
Last month, Epic achieved an unexpected victory in the United States against Google, when a jury ruled, writes AFP, that the Internet giant abused its power to stifle competition in the mobile application market via Android. Unlike Apple, Google allows alternative stores, but according to Epic Games this is an illusion and Android is certainly no more open than iOS.