Defeat for Apple in the dispute with Epic Games over in-app purchases: The iPhone group cannot claim additional compensation for bypassing its payment interface, as the competent court decided on Tuesday. Apple had argued that the direct payment option integrated into Fortnite by Epic corresponds to theft. You have a “right of ownership” to all purchases made in iOS apps.

Breach of contract and cartel litigation – no theft The judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not want to join the argument, as the financial news agency reports to Bloomberg : It go in this dispute only about a “risky breach of contract” and the cartel allegations brought forward by Epic, so Rogers. Apple could not show that the integration of a direct payment option is an “unlawful act” independent of the breach of contract.

You agree with the The court’s decision does not agree, Apple said in a statement to US media that Epic’s behavior should be subject to California tort law. The game manufacturer’s “reckless behavior” has turned “customers into chess pieces”.

Apple insists on commission for in-app purchases Bypassing Apple’s mandatory payment interface (In-App Purchase – IAP) is comparable to shoplifting or stealing money from a safe in Apple’s company building, the iPhone group had previously explained several times. Epic Games rejected the allegations that Apple was ultimately not “entitled to the fruits of our labor”. The purchases made in the app are ultimately money that players spend on Fortnite content.

The sale of digital content in apps is only allowed via Apple’s payment interface, so the iPhone manufacturer can withhold up to 30 percent commission from every transaction – it is similar in the Google Play Store. Epic sees this as anti-competitive and smuggled a direct payment option into the iOS and Android versions of Fortnite in August. Players could purchase the game currency directly from Epic, parallel to the existing payment option via their Apple or Google account.

The deliberate breach of contract led to Fortnite being kicked out of the app stores – and from Epic Games from Apple’s developer program. The court prohibited Apple’s also planned stop of the further development of Epic’s Unreal Engine. The main negotiation of the cartel allegations and the breach of contract is expected for spring 2021.

(lbe)