U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers of the Northern District of California delivered the long-awaited ruling on the dispute between Apple and Epic Games.
The verdict drew a variety of responses, but it was far from ideal for Epic, the maker of Fortnite.
Apple won the case on nine of the 10 charges. The video game developer was ordered to pay millions in breach of contract damages to Apple — roughly 30% of sales during the time it permitted payments to skip the App Store when the issue erupted in mid-2020.
A legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games may have paved the way for bitcoin sales on Apple’s iOS platform.
Monopoly
Epic claimed that Apple had a monopoly on its App Store and was engaging in anti-competitive behavior by requiring all in-game transactions to go via Apple’s payment mechanism (for which it charges a 30% commission).
Rogers issued a permanent injunction easing this restriction: Apple must now give users the option of buying digital goods on the App Store or exiting the app to purchase directly from developers on the web — but the 30% fee remains.
This is a win for consumers but it leaves many questions unanswered.
Ongoing dispute
The first major case in the U.S. against a Big Tech business essentially confirms Apple’s monopoly and might have implications for the development of interoperable, open, and user-centered worlds known as the Metaverse.
For Metaverse to function properly, payments must be quick and commerce must be unrestricted between two consenting parties.
CoinDesk has not verified the emails but it was said that Apple is blocking an update to Gnosis Safe, a wallet service and storage for non-fungible tokens as it was claimed that this app’s feature is not appropriate for the App Store.
Rogers put a stop to allowing third-party developers from launching their in-app marketplaces — the very reason for Epic and Apple’s dispute.
Epic Games has filed an appeal against the decision.
Image courtesy of GameSpot/YouTube