Adam Kos It took since May of this year before the court decided on the verdict of the Epic Games vs. Apple. Who won the lawsuits? Part Apple, part Epic Games. Most importantly for Apple, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not find its position to be a monopoly. She also disagreed that Apple should somehow run alternative app stores on its platform. So it means we'll still have to visit the App Store for content. Whether it's good or not, you have to answer for yourself. On the other hand, Epic also succeeded, and in a very important point. This is one in which Apple does not allow third-party developers to link to payments outside of the app.
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In the sign of concessions
Apple recently made a fairly important concession in allowing developers to email their customers about the possibility of paying for digital content outside of the App Store. However, this was a relatively small and insignificant concession, which the new regulation clearly overpowers. The fact that developers will be able to inform about additional payments directly in the application, and then redirect users to their website, for example, is of course more advantageous for them. You just have to have a pop-up window and you don't have to ask for an email, when even in that request nothing about payments can be said.
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After Epic Games' Fortnite brought its own store (thus violating Apple's terms), Apple removed it from the App Store. The court did not order her return to the store, not even regarding the restoration of Epic Games developer accounts. This is because the payments were made directly from the app and not from the website. Therefore, it will still not be possible to pay developers directly from the app, and they will have to direct their users to the website. So if any payment is still made in the app, the developer will have to hand over the appropriate percentage to Apple (30 or 15%).
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In addition, Epic Games will have to pay Apple 30% of the revenue from the disputed Epic Direct Payment store that Fortnite on iOS has earned since August 2020, when it was launched in the app. Moreover, this is not a small amount, because the sales are calculated at 12 dollars. So the court 167% recognized that the "smuggled" in-app store was against the rules and the studio must be punished for it.
Regulation in sight
This is a clear win for Apple, as it faced many more restrictions. On the other hand, he certainly doesn't like the one point in which Epic won. While this may seem like a minor detail, it will certainly cost Apple a lot of lost digital content revenue over time. But all the days are not over yet, because of course the Epic Games studio appealed. If it did not do so, the regulation should enter into force within 90 days of the said judgment.
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When you consider that it took a year for the court to reach this point, it is clear that it will take some time. Thus, Apple does not even have to implement the option of informing users about the option of alternative payment and will only stick to what it announced itself. But it is certain that sooner or later he will have to back down anyway, because he probably won't be able to resist the pressure any longer, especially from various states that are focusing on a similar problem. In the end, it would be best if he didn't wait to see how the appeal with Epic Games would turn out and take this step himself. It would certainly make his position much easier.
