Mario Bautista
Last month, after a long and protracted legal battle, Apple restored Fortnite to the US app store. Fortnite had been removed in late 2020 after launching its own in-app payment system that bypassed the App Store’s payment system (and the 30% commission), a violation of Apple’s terms, and Epic took Apple to court.
Epic’s argument was essentially that Apple operates the App Store as a monopoly, and characterised this as a fight about consumer and developer rights. The courts agreed and Apple now has to allow apps to point users to their own payment systems (which it doesn’t get any cut from), and after initially dragging its feet the courts forced it into compliance.
Apple did comply but also launched an emergency appeal, requesting that the changes to the App Store be halted while further legal wrangling was ongoing. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has now denied Apple’s appeal, with the judges writing: “Apple bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of [our] discretion. After reviewing the relevant factors, we are not persuaded that a stay is appropriate.”
Guess who’s cock-a-hoop at that news? Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been loving life recently, and took to X to celebrate this latest victory:
“Apple’s stay is denied by the 9th Circuit Court,” says Sweeney. “The long national nightmare of the Apple tax is ended. May next week’s [Worldwide Developers Conference] be the Apple-led celebration of freedom that developers and users have long deserved.”
In response to a question about how Apple will make money, which doesn’t really seem to be a particular problem for one of the largest companies in the world, Sweeney says “Apple is free to make money by fairly competing to offer services such as payments and ads to willing buyers.”
Sweeney’s jubilation was shared by several prominent developers. Randy Pitchford posted a screen of Fortnite’s Victory Royale screen, while 3D Realms / Apogee co-founder George Broussard replied: “Tim, you’re gonna make Tim Cook retire early. Might be a good thing.”
Fortnite is now back on the App Store in the US, with its own payment system, and for now Apple can do absolutely nothing about it. Sweeney is certainly enjoying the moment, and why not, but this is far from over.
