Apple Says Epic Games ‘Wants Us to Be Android, But We Don’t Want to Be’

The highly-anticipated Epic Games vs. Apple trial started today in a federal court in Oakland, California, with lawyers for both companies delivering opening remarks before District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Attorneys for Epic Games attempted to paint the App Store as anti-competitive and monopolistic, keeping in mind that developers are forced to use Apples in-app purchase system, and therefore pay Apple a 30% commission on sales. (The rate drops to 15% for memberships after the very first year and for certifying designers who register for Apples brand-new Small Business Program and earn less than $1 million per fiscal year in net profits.).
Impressive Games described the App Store as a “walled garden” and presented e-mails from current and former Apple executives like Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, Eddy Cue, and Scott Forstall in an attempt to prove this claim.
Impressive Games desires Apple to be forced to allow third-party app shops on iOS and to let designers use direct payment systems, but Apple argued that a single, highly-curated App Store is required to secure the security, privacy, dependability, and quality that clients have come to anticipate from the business.
” Epic wants us to be Android, but we dont want to be,” stated Apple lawyer Karen Dunn, describing the capability to sideload apps beyond the Google Play shop on Android gadgets. “Our consumers do not want that either,” she included.
Impressive Games is the developer of popular fight royale video game Fortnite, which Apple eliminated from the App Store in August 2020, quickly after Epic Games slyly introduced a direct payment option in the app, in defiance of the App Store guidelines. Legendary Games then submitted an orchestrated suit versus Apple, implicating the business of anti-competitive behavior.
At the time, Apple said Epic Games “took the regrettable step of breaching the App Store standards that are applied similarly to every designer and created to keep the shop safe for our users,” adding that it would “strive to work with Epic to fix these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.” Legendary Games has actually declined to work together, nevertheless, and Fortnite remains not available on the App Store.
Legendary Games CEO Tim Sweeney affirmed at the trial today, stating that by introducing the direct payment option, he wanted customers to see that Apple exercises “total control” over iOS and software application available on the platform.
The trial is anticipated to continue for a total of three weeks, with Apples CEO Tim Cook and other executives anticipated to affirm.