CEO of Epic concedes defeat in court battle with Apple, claiming it will not lead to opening up iPhone to rival stores.
On Tuesday, the CEO of Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, acknowledged that the company’s legal fight to allow alternative app stores on Apple’s iPhone had come to an end. The high court’s decision not to consider appeals from both Apple and Epic effectively concluded the lengthy court battle.
Epic in 2020 launched a case aimed at breaking Apple’s grip on the App Store and accusing the iPhone maker of a monopoly on the digital services store.
Apple is cutting up to 30 percent of all financial transactions in its app store, prompting complaints of an unfair “tax” on businesses.
A federal court in San Francisco overwhelmingly dismissed the suit, offering only concessions that allow apps to notify users of other ways to pay for services outside Apple’s ecosystem.
Both companies filed appeals, which progressed through the appeals process itself to the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court rejected both sides’ appeals in Epic v. Apple,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said on X, formerly Twitter.
“The legal battle to open up iOS to competing stores and payments has been lost in the US. A sad outcome for all developers,” he said.
Sweeney said that now governments and regulators must mandate that Apple allow new payment systems for its iPhones.
He praised the European Union’s Digital Market Act, which will do just that in Europe from March 7.
Last month, Epic won a similar legal battle against Google in the US, after a jury ruled that the search engine giant was exercising an illegal monopoly over its Android app store.
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