In the legal dispute over alternative payment options for in-app purchases, Apple has suffered a defeat in a US court. According to an order issued by the competent judge, the company must lift its restrictions against Epic Games, which holds out the prospect of a return of the Battle Royale shooter Fortnite in the App Store.
Return of Fortnite only under conditions
It has been over a year since Apple banned the multiplayer hit Fortnite from its own app store. In the ensuing legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games, there has now been a surprising turn of events, as the competent judge in a US court has granted developer and publisher Epic Games.
Epic Games had sued Apple at the time for not allowing alternative payment options for in-app purchases on its mobile devices. For this reason, they were forced to remove Fortnite from Apple’s App Store as well.
The responsible judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, has now complied with Epic Games in her ruling and given Apple 90 days to drop all restrictions against app developers who do not want to process in-app purchases in their app via Apple’s payment system.
This means that various titles, including Fortnite, could find their way back into the store in just a few months. However, Apple could now challenge the verdict, since the company would lose billions in revenue by using an alternative payment system.
Tim Sweeney, CEO and founder of Epic Games, has already commented on the verdict via Twitter. A return of Fortnite to Apple’s App Store would only be possible if Apple actually grants users the option to use Epic’s own alternative in-app payment service in order to be able to “pass on the resulting savings directly to customers.”
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