Apple wants compensation from Epic for introducing Fortnite payment system
Apple is demanding damages for breach of contract as part of the ongoing legal battle with Epic Games. This concerns the obligations that Epic can no longer meet because it previously introduced its own payment system for Fortnite.
In the indictment, in which Apple is requesting a jury trial, malpractice is filed as a major complaint. According to Apple, Epic has entered into a contractual relationship by executing the License Agreement and is an enforceable agreement between both parties. Apple maintains that it has performed all obligations under this agreement, such as acting as Epics’ intermediary in the marketing and delivery of Fortnite to consumers through the App Store.
However, Epic would not have complied with all obligations. As part of the agreement, Epic was not allowed to introduce additional features or functionalities through any mechanism outside of the App Store. According to Apple, the game company did so when it introduced a new, third-party payment mechanism in Fortnite on August 13 via a hotfix. In addition, Epic would not have informed Apple of this and the company has deliberately tried to hide this step. Apple also emphasizes that under the License Agreement, Epic is required to pay a 30 percent commission on all prices paid by end users for additional services or content. Apple describes the introduction of its own payment system as a ‘Trojan horse’ that can be seen as ‘theft’.
According to Apple, the lawsuit that Epic Games has filed against Apple can only be regarded as a simple disagreement about money. “Even though Epic pretends to be a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it’s a multi-billion dollar company that simply doesn’t want to pay for the tremendous value it gets from the App Store,” Apple said in the indictment. According to the Cupertino company, Epic has made more than $ 600 million by offering Fortnite on the App Store.
The legal battle between the two companies started when Epic introduced its own payment system in August, after which Apple removed the Fortnite game from the App Store. Incidentally, Google did the same in its digital app store. Subsequently, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against both parties, over the monopoly of the two companies and the restrictions of the policy on third parties. In an earlier preliminary ruling, a judge indicated that Apple may block Fortnite, but the developer account Epic owns for the Unreal engine should not be banned. This case between Apple and Epic will officially begin on September 28.