Epic Games vs. Apple Judgment Allows App Store Developers to Link to Alternative Payment Methods

A decision was reached today in the Epic Games v. Apple trial, with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruling that Apple’s anti-steering conduct is anti-competitive, and ruling in favor of Apple on all other counts.

Judge Rogers issued a permanent injunction that requires Apple to let developers direct customers to payment options other than Apple’s in-app purchase system.

From the permanent injunction:

Apple Inc. and its officers, agents, servants, employees, and any person in active concert or participation with them (“Apple”), are hereby permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from (i) including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to In-App Purchasing and (ii) communicating with customers through points of contact obtained voluntarily from customers through account registration within the app.

Judge Rogers ruled that Epic Games shall pay damages in an amount equal to 30% of the $12,167,719 in revenue that Epic Games collected from users in the Fortnite app on iOS through direct payments between August 2020 and October 2020, plus 30% of any such revenue Epic Games collected from November 1, 2020 through the date of judgment, plus interest.

Apple is likely to appeal the decision. We’ve reached out to the company for comment and will update this story if we hear back.