Adam Kos After just three weeks of testimony, evidence, and debate over what exactly defines a "game," the trial of Epic Games vs. Apple officially discontinued. Now, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will go over all the testimony to rule on the case sometime in the coming months.
It could be interest you
Pavel Jelic Instead of traditional closing arguments from the companies' lawyers, the final day of the trial consisted of three hours of questions from the judge and answers from Apple and Epic's lawyers. One of the points the judge made repeatedly during the last day of the trial was that customers have the option to choose si which ecosystem it will enter, and of course with reference to Android vs. iOS.
Gallery
"There is a lot of evidence in this study that Apple's business strategy is to create a certain kind of ecosystem that is attractive to consumers," Judge Rogers said. To Epic, she added that its argument ignores the reality that customers themselves have chosen this closed ecosystem, even though they may be locked into it, which is no longer the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. If Epic were to be fully accommodated, this ecosystem would collapse.
It could be interest you
Game definition
Of course, Gary Bornstein, an Epic Games attorney, pointed out that the possibility of content distribution, such as a sideloading system and third-party app stores, could increase competitiveness and virtually eliminate Apple's potential monopoly. But iOS is not macOS, iOS wants to be as secure as possible, and both of these variants leave room for fraud and various attacks. Let's be thankful for Apple's stubbornness in this regard.
Gallery
Whichever way you look at the whole dispute, Epic Games failed to do the main thing in the whole dispute - to define the market itself. Which Apple's lawyers also shoved in his face in the last recast. But Epic's lawyers tried their best. They also brought to light the unfairness of App Store searches. They stated that the developers were not satisfied with its search methods. But they hit hard. The judge told them that it is not reasonable to complain about the fact that the application in question is not at the top of the list in the given search category, when there are 100 thousand other competing titles.
It could be interest you
Measures and (not) possible remedies
During a portion of the questioning focused on the company's conduct, Apple lawyer Veronica Moye tried to counter a report that suggested developers were unhappy with the App Store. The survey reports 64% developer satisfaction. But Epic's lawyers emphasized that satisfaction was actually even lower because the survey was tied to the company's API (developer tools) and not purely to the App Store, which should have skewed the results.
Gallery
As for remedies, Epic's lawyers said they want Apple to adopt specific anti-competitive restrictions, including restrictions on app distribution and in-app payments. In response to this request, the judge said that their consequence would be that Apple would distribute its content to Epic, but not actually get a dollar from it. Apple's lawyer, Richard Doren, described the funds as a compulsory license for all of Apple's intellectual property.
It could be interest you
Necessary time to decide
Monday ended a three-week court battle that will determine the future of iOS app management in the App Store. Depending on the court's decision, the outcome could see Apple lose not only billions of dollars in potential revenue, but also control over the very ecosystem it created. Epic Games was attacking on Apple with a monopoly on the distribution of iOS applications and payments in the App Store. At the same time, Epic is said to be fighting for benefits for all developers, as well as users, who would not have to pay Apple's 30% commission.
Apple's counterarguments they emphasized the privacy and security of its platforms, and also mentioned Epic Games' motives for the litigation itself. The Fortnite developer was portrayed by Apple as an opportunist who didn't want to pay the company to use its platform, and one who wanted to sell content in his iOS app outside the App Store, even though he knew doing so would violate the terms it agreed to.
It could be interest you
The judge now has to go through 4 pages of testimony before reaching her verdict. Of course, she doesn't know when that will be either, although she didn't forgive herself for joking that it could be August 500, for example. It was on that day that Epic bypassed Apple's payment system, and on that very day the two companies became arch-enemies.
