This morning, the massive and widely-observed lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games has come to an initial end. Judge Gonzales Rogers added one more twist to the ongoing videogame legal drama by, in different ways, ruling against both parties.
Apple’s side of it seems like the bigger blow, as the App Store’s in-app purchase restrictions were deemed illegal.
Court Ruling on Apple vs Epic Lawsuit Issues Injunction Against Apple
The biggest result of the case is a permanent, nationwide injunction against Apple, prohibiting the tech giant from blocking app developers from the following:
- “Apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to [in-app purchases]
- Communicating with customers through points of contact obtained voluntarily from customers through account registration within the app”
Basically, Apple forcing developers to use its payment structure and only its payment structure was declared illegally anti-competitive. And while that sounds great for Epic Games, that wasn’t the only outcome.
The court ruled Epic Games’ arguments in all other counts of the case (and this one is only a partial ruling) failed to demonstrate what they claimed. Therefore, Epic Games must award Apple the requested damages for breach of contact and both companies are responsible for their own legal fees.
In sum, Epic Games was told its entire argument was overreaching, but the court found its own conclusion about Apple’s practices along the way. Apple can still fight the injunction, however all arguments presented in this case are not allowed in any further filings.
Related: Apple Submits Court Document Equivalent to Diss Track Against Epic Games
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