In-app purchases could soon become CHEAPER for Apple users after judge orders tech giant to loosen payment restrictions in legal battle with Epic Games - but Fortnite STILL wont return to iPhones and iPads
- A judged ruled Friday that Apple can't ban developers from adding a button or link that directs customers to an outside payment method
- The ruling is part of the Fornite case between Epic Games and Apple
- Apple removed Fornite from its App in August 2020 after Epic was taking payments outside of Apple's in-app payment system
- The ruling notes that Epic failed to demonstrate Apple is an illegal monopolist
- Epic said it will not allow Fortnite back in the App Store and will appeal the verdict In-app purchases could soon become cheaper for Apple users after a California judge ordered the tech giant to loosen payment restrictions inside apps hosted on iPhones and iPads.
Until now, Apple has made app developers hand over a 30 percent cut of any income that is made from in-app purchases. It has also prohibited developers from rolling out their own direct payment features, such as buttons or links, in a bid to circumvent such fees.
However, on Friday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple's enforcement of such rules was 'anticompetitive'.
Barring any legal challenges, software developers will be able to direct users to alternative methods of payment within 90 days, which means they may no longer have to hand over the 30 percent cut to Apple.
The ruling has raised hopes that in-app purchases may soon become cheaper for users.
'If developers don't have to swallow the 30 percent fee on most purchases, they may be incentivized to drop their prices and direct consumers elsewhere to pay', The Washington Post reports.
Legal director John Bergmayer told the publication: 'Were it to go into effect, I think it would be a win for users in terms of giving them more options, and giving them more price competition'.
The ruling stemmed from a bitter legal battle between Apple and Epic, the video game developer behind Fortnite, Gears of War and Infinity Blade.
In-app purchases could soon become cheaper for Apple users after a California judge ordered the tech giant to loosen payment restrictions inside apps hosted on iPhones and iPads
The ruling stemmed from a bitter legal battle between Apple and Epic, the video game developer behind Fortnite, Gears of War and Infinity Blade.
Last year, Apple removed all Epic apps from its App Store after it rolled out a direct payment feature inside its games, which meant that it could avoid paying any profits to Apple.
Epic filed a lawsuit days after, arguing that app distribution and in-app payments for Apple devices constitute its own distinct market for anti-competition purposes because Apple users rarely leave its 'sticky' ecosystem.
In her Friday ruling, Gonzalez Rogers issued a nationwide order that allows developers to put into their apps 'buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms'.
'Once acceptable, Apple's commission rate is now questioned by some consumers and some developers, like Epic Games, as being overly burdensome and violative of competition laws. Indeed, two related lawsuits were already pending before the Court well before the commencement of this action,' she wrote.
The US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Apple cannot bar developers from providing buttons or links in their apps that direct customers to other ways to pay outside of Apple's own in-app purchase system, which charges developers commissions of up to 30 percent
Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney is not satisfied with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' Friday ruling and announced on Twitter that Fornite will not return to Apple's App Store until 'Epic can offer in-app payment in fair competition with Apple in-app payment'
However, despite the seeming win regarding in-app purchases, Gonzales Rogers concluded Epic failed to demonstrate Apple is an illegal monopolist.
She also left Apple's App Store as the only place to download programs to iPhones and iPads.
Epic founder Tim Sweeney is not satisfied with the ruling.
'Today's ruling isn't a win for developers or for consumers,' he wrote on Twitter. 'Fortnite will return to the iOS App Store when and where Epic can offer in-app payment in fair competition with Apple in-app payment, passing along the savings to customers.'
Although the Epic CEO and founder plans to 'fight on' and appeal the verdict, users hope he can put his pride aside and let them play Fornite on iOS.
One Twitter user by the name of 'RicXGaming' tweeted: 'Bruh, nobody cares about payment. Jesus stop being stubborn. We just want to play Fornite.
Friday's decision follows a three-week trial in May, which also caused Apple shares, to drop about 2.5 percent when news of the verdict broke.
Sweeney also made it clear on Twitter Friday afternoon that Epic does not see the decision as a win, specifically after Apple released its statement saying: 'Today the Court has affirmed what we've known all along: the App Store is not in violation of antitrust law
Although the Epic CEO and founder plans to 'fight on,' users hope he can put his pride aside and let them play Fornite on iOS. One Twitter user by the name of 'RicXGaming' tweeted: 'Bruh, nobody cares about payment. Jesus stop being stubborn. We just want to play Fornite'
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