The legal war between Apple and Epic Games took an unexpected turn, this Friday (10). In a ruling, the California court judge in charge of the case ordered Apple to change app store rules to allow developers to include other forms of payment for microtransactions within apps, such as external websites.
To not have an aggravated sentence, Apple has up to 90 days to change the regulation of the App Store — that is, the deadline ends on December 9. The company, however, can still appeal the decision in a higher court. According to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the apple is:
“(…) permanently restricted and prohibited from preventing developers from including in their applications and shortcuts, external links, or other mechanisms that direct customers to microtransaction platforms, in addition to in-app shopping systems, and from communicating with customers through contacts voluntarily obtained during the creation of accounts within the apps.”
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, Judge of the California Court.
However, even with that decision, the Court still held that Epic Games had broken its contract with Apple by implementing alternative payment methods at Fortnite in the past. That’s why the Battle Royale developer was ordered to pay 30% of all revenue gained from the method so far as the game was removed from the store —around $3.5 million.
For Gonzalez Rogers, neither party presented solid arguments about the App Store’s business relationship with developers and customers. “The relevant issue here is transactions in mobile games, not games in general, or Apple’s own internal operating systems in relation to the store,” the judge said.
Because neither company had its charges validated, the judge concluded that, as much as Apple cannot be considered monopolistic under federal or state antitrust law, the company is still “abusing anticompetitive practices in accordance with California’s competition laws.”
