The App Store vs Epic games court battle has finally come to an end and we have an official ruling from a District federal judge, reports The Verge. Apple App Store will now allow third-party payment options for its devices after the Judge deemed their policies as “anti-competitive” and harmful towards their customers. This change will definitely hurt them since they usually take a 30% cut on all payments made by customers on the App Store and don’t allow third-party payment options.
However, now that they allow the latter, users can purchase virtual assets through a game or app’s own website and Apple can only enforce the 30% cut on payments made through the App Store. The Judge also criticized Apple’s really large 30% cut but didn’t give any order to them regarding that.
Apple has not adequately justified its 30% rate, merely contending that its commission pays for the developer’s use of the App Store platform, license to Apple’s intellectual property, and access to Apple’s user base only justifies a commission, not the rate itself.
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the Judge presiding over the affair
“Apple faces rigorous competition in every segment in which we do business, and we believe customers and developers choose us because our products and services are the best in the world,” the iPhone maker said in its statement. “We remain committed to ensuring the App Store is a safe and trusted marketplace that supports a thriving developer community and more than 2.1 million U.S. jobs, and where the rules apply equally to everyone.”
Apple hit hard with the new ruling about third-party payment options
Epic on the other hand had to pay a measly fine of just $4 million for breaching their agreement with Apple and circumventing the App Store earlier so that Apple didn’t get to keep a 30% cut on purchases made within Epic’s blockbuster title, Fortnite. $4 million sounds like a big sum but compare it to how much profit Epic pulls in a year and it is easy to see how this will hardly affect them. Apple, however, will have a harder time since they miss out on their 30% cut.
Epic, however, isn’t going to give up the fight it seems and even Apple might want to fight back. The former actually wanted to have their marketplace within the App Store itself but that obviously didn’t work out. Meanwhile, Apple’s shares fell to 3.5% at one point after the ruling. This comes after another recent hit to Apple in South Korea, which banned the payment monopolies of Apple and Google app stores.
Now, this might not be the last we hear of this case. Apple and Google are facing criticism worldwide for their policies. Epic Games will probably continue to fight too and while this seems to be a temporary conclusion, it should be interesting to see what comes after.
What are your thoughts on the fact that Apple will now allow third-party payment options? Do let us know your opinions in the comments below!
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A court order does not equal a compromise.