Apple App slap
Mixed ruling in ‘Fortnite’ war
Epic Games won a partial victory in its legal battle against Apple when a federal judge in San Francisco barred the Silicon Valley titan from kneecapping the “Fortnite” maker’ s trademark-development tool.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers barred Apple from restricting access to the Unreal Engine — which powers three-dimensional graphics in many video games — in retaliation for Epic circumventing Apple’s App Store fees through its popular “Fortnite” game.
Apple had threatened to cut off Epic’s developer tools on Friday, a move that could cause “significant damage to both the Unreal Engine platform itself, and to the gaming industry generally,” Rogers said in her ruling Monday.
She noted that the engine is used by small and large game developers alike and in other industries, such as filmmaking, architecture and medical training.
Rogers refused, however, to force Apple to let “Fortnite”
back into the App Store after booting it roughly two weeks ago — a decision that sparked Epic’s lawsuit over Apple’s practice of taking a 30-percent cut of purchases made through iPhone apps.
Apple removed “Fortnite” after Epic introduced a system to accept payments for in-app purchases directly. The move to bypass Apple’s fees quickly sparked a closely watched tug-of-war between billionaire tech titans Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The case is one of the highest-profile challenges yet to Apple’s steep commissions on in-app purchases, which Epic has called “oppressive” and anticompetitive.
Several other tech firms, including Facebook, Spotify and Tinder owner Match Group, have blasted Apple’s fees as the unfair result of its market dominance.
Apple on Tuesday praised the judge for “recognizing that Epic’s problem is entirely self-inflicted.” Epic didn’t return a request for comment.