Apple and Epic Games have been fighting in court after the popular game Fortnite was removed from the App Store in August 2020, but there’s still a lot to come. Both companies are expected to face each other in a trial expected to begin on May 3, and Apple continues to strengthen its arguments to defend the App Store business model.
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The Epic Games vs Apple saga continues today with the news that an Australian judge has ruled to temporarily suspend the case in the country while the trial looms for the US lawsuit. The decision comes after Apple asked for a permanent suspension of the Australian case.
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Internal documents released as part of the Epic Games lawsuit reveal an Apple anti-fraud engineer suggesting that App Store checks were grossly inadequate.
Epic cited two particularly damning quotes from Eric Friedman, head of the company’s Fraud Engineering Algorithms and Risk unit, in internal documents …
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Today saw the publication of court filings by both Apple and Epic Games, and in them we see that Epic accuses Apple of using app security as a “pretext” for its commission. The company also argues that Apple enables fraud by app users.
In the run-up to the antitrust trial between the two companies, both sides were required to submit documents known as Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Each company presents the facts it considers relevant to the case, and the legal arguments on which it intends to rely …
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Back in August 2020, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store after an update that bypassed the App Store’s in-app purchases system. Since then, Apple and Epic Games have been fighting in court — and now the findings of fact and conclusions of law filed by Apple with the court give us more details of what to expect from this trial.
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Less than a month away from the Apple vs. Epic trial, Facebook is getting involved. According to a letter filed with the court, Apple requested some documents from Facebook, but Facebook doesn’t want to provide them.
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Epic Games has filed a UK antitrust complaint against Apple, despite having lost a court case in the country over the same issue.
Using the kind of hyperbolic language we’ve now come to expect, Epic’s complaint accuses Apple of ‘kneecapping the competition’ and ‘exerting monopoly power’ …
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The Epic Games versus Apple dispute is not the David versus Goliath battle the game developer wants people to believe, said the Cupertino company: It is instead a battle of two Goliaths.
Apple asked an Australian court to rule against a trial in the country, arguing that Epic agreed to terms that clearly state that any legal challenges need to be made in California …
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Apple has defended the App Store app review process following formal complaints lodged by Epic Games and other developers to the Australian antitrust watchdog.
In addition to complaining about Apple’s 30% cut, Epic had told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that the app review process could delay the launch and update of apps; apps could be rejected by Apple without proper cause; and that it was hard to engage with the company when this happened …
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Some Apple executives received on Friday a tentative initial witness list to testify in the Apple vs Epic Games case set to be held in May. The list includes Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and others.
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With the Epic Games vs Apple trial set for May, the tension continues to build between the two. And as Apple promoted Fortnite competitor PUBG on the App Store today, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney took a shot at both in a couple of tweets.
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Over the last year, Epic Games has filed antitrust lawsuits against Apple in a variety of countries. Now the first lawsuit it filed in the US has been scheduled to go to trial in May. Notably, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers says “this is a very significant case, so the judiciary should give it the best it has to offer, which is an in-person trial.” However, that could change depending on “the infection numbers.”
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Apple subpoenas in the Epic Games case are over the top, says a judge in the case, noting that the iPhone maker was seemingly demanding information from anyone and everyone. But he did rule that the company should get some of the Steam data it wanted in order to help understand how the games market as a whole operates.
Apple had demanded hugely sensitive Steam data to help its defense in the Epic antitrust lawsuit…
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Apple has claimed to Epic Games that it doesn’t have Scott Forstall’s phone number.
Epic is seemingly not content with being able to question Apple CEO Tim Cook for seven hours: The company also wants to do the same to former iOS SVP Scott Forstall. But it has so far been unable to contact him, and Apple says it can’t help as it doesn’t have his current phone number!
The hilarious development in the antitrust case is revealed in court papers…
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Epic’s legal battle with Apple has hit a roadblock in the UK. Despite a mixed ruling on Epic’s right to sue Google, Justice Roth has ruled that a lawsuit against Apple doesn’t reach the UK court’s jurisdiction.
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Apple might position itself as the champion of privacy when it comes to personal data, but court records showed that the company demanded hugely sensitive data from game distribution service Steam to help in the battle with Epic Games.
The reason? Epic previously criticized Steam’s cut from game developers, accusing platform owner Valve of “sucking out a huge fraction of the profits from games.” Apple wanted to understand more about Valve’s business model with Steam in order to help it make its own case for the App Store. The data that Apple demanded from Valve – which is not even a party to the case – was pretty insane…
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An Epic Games antitrust complaint has been filed against Apple in Europe, following similar ones in the US and Australia.
In this latest one, Epic claims that “Apple has not just harmed but completely eliminated competition” in iOS and iPadOS apps…
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In another chapter of the battle between Epic Games and Apple, the game company is now appealing to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) against Apple’s “anti-competitive” practices regarding the App Store. According to Epic, Apple’s conduct and “unrestrained market power” can result in “significant harm” to consumers.
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As Apple’s legal battle with Epic Games continues, a judge in the case has made a pair of decisions unfriendly to Apple. First off, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered to sit for a 7-hour deposition in the case. The judge has also rejected Apple’s attempt to subpoena Samsung as part of the case.
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Epic Games is doubling down on its legal battle with Apple in the UK. As first reported by Bloomberg, Epic has made a new filing in the UK slamming Apple for its decision to remove Fortnite from the App Store, saying that the company is abusing its “dominant position” in the market.
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Playing Fortnite on an iPhone will soon be possible once more, despite Apple removing it from the App Store and later terminating Epic’s developer account.
It’s being made possible by a move that will interest more than just Fortnite players: GPU maker Nvidia has developed a version of its GeForce cloud gaming service that runs in Safari on iOS …
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Epic Games has stepped up its rhetoric against Apple, claiming that the App Store contract is illegal and that Apple’s view of what is reasonable is “crazy and misguided.”
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney yesterday tweeted his view on the dispute …
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Feral Interactive has announced that A Total War Saga: Troy will be available for Mac from October 8.
If you sign up for Total War news before then, you’ll get The Amazons downloadable content free of charge when you purchase the game …
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As the legal battle between Epic Games and Apple continues, both companies participated in a preliminary hearing today to discuss the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California doesn’t expect the trial to take place prior to July 2021, and she also criticized Epic’s tactics claiming they were “not honest.”
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