Supporting Epic Games in their protest against Apple are Meta, Microsoft, Elon Musk’s X, and Match Group. They claim that Apple has not cooperated with a court-issued injunction governing payments within its profitable App Store.
On Wednesday, “Fortnite” video game developer Epic Games’ ask against Apple’s compliance with a court-ordered injunction controlling payments in its lucrative App Store was joined by Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Elon Musk’s X, and Match Group. The tech companies claimed that by making it impossible for customers to find less expensive ways to pay for digital content, Apple was in “clear violation” of the September 2021 injunction. These companies created some of the most well-known apps in the App Store. Apple declined to comment on the allegation in particular. The allegation was filed with a federal court in Oakland, California.
It highlighted its declaration from January 16th stating that it had cooperated with the injunction in full and that it would safeguard “the integrity of Apple’s ecosystem” and users while making sure developers do not receive special treatment.
In 2020, Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the company’s requirement that users download apps through the App Store and its up to 30% commission for developers’ sales were in breach of antitrust laws.
Apple was forced by the injunction to permit developers to include buttons and links that would take users to different payment methods.
Epic said last week that the links were essentially worthless due to new regulations and a new 27% developer charge, and they demanded that Apple be held in contempt.
The tech businesses filed a papers on Wednesday claiming that Apple’s actions harm developers and customers while “for all intents and purposes” establishing anti-steering laws that the court ruled to be illegal.
“Apple’s restrictions on where and how developers can communicate with their users about their options for purchasing in-app content create significant barriers to competition and artificially inflate prices,” the filing stated.
Apple challenged the ruling, but the US Supreme Court declined to consider it in January. Additionally, the court declined to consider Epic’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that Apple’s actions did not breach federal antitrust law.
Apple’s official response to Epic’s lawsuit must be sent by April 3. While Epic is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, the firm is headquartered in Cupertino, California.
