Apple wins major antitrust case against Fortnite maker Epic Games

Apple has won a long-running antitrust court battle in the US against Fortnite maker Epic Games over its App Store policies.

The ruling is a major setback for Epic Games and other developers and could set a precedent for more antitrust claims, according to reports.

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has largely upheld an earlier district court ruling related to Epic Games’ antitrust claims in favor of Apple, TechCrunch reports.

However, it also upheld the lower court’s ruling in Epic’s favor under California’s Unfair Competition Act.

“Today’s decision reaffirms Apple’s resounding victory in this case, in which nine out of ten claims have been decided in Apple’s favor. For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple complies with antitrust laws at both the state and federal levels,” the tech giant said. he said in a statement.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling on the remaining claim under state law and are considering further review,” she added.

Tim Sweeney, Founder and CEO of Epic Games, tweeted: “Losing another court ruling, climbing another mountain. The world has come a long way since 2020 when this journey began, with a lot of progress being made by many people in many countries around the world.” Onward we go!”

Sweeney said Apple prevailed in the Ninth Circuit Court.

He added, “Although the Court upheld the ruling that Apple’s restrictions had a significant anti-competitive effect detrimental to consumers, they found that we did not prove the Sherman Law case.”

He added, “Fortunately, the court’s positive decision to reject Apple’s anti-routing provisions frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there. We are working on the next steps.”

Apple was sued by Epic in 2020, as Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store after the game maker knowingly violated the App Store’s terms on in-app purchases.

– Jans

na/ksk/