She decided in favor of Apple on nine counts out of 10, deciding against Apple in regards to its anti-steering practices, which were found to be in violation of the California Unfair Competition Law. On 10 September of this year, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the District Court for the Northern District of California issued her first ruling in the Epic Games v. This is what led Epic Games to file a lawsuit against both companies, claiming that they were running a duopoly on the mobile app market. These policies are by no means hidden on either platform, both prominently displayed within the corresponding policy pages.Īfter Epic Games circumvented these rules that they agreed to when submitting their apps to the mobile app stores, both Apple and Google proceeded to pull Fortnite from their store fronts. Play-distributed apps must use Google Play's billing system as the method of payment if they require or accept payment for access to features or services, including any app functionality, digital content or goods. Developers charging for apps and downloads from Google Play must use Google Play's billing system as the method of payment.Ģ. Apps and their metadata may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.ġ.
Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, etc.
If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Epic pulled the same manoeuvre in both store fronts, bypassing the native in-app purchasing systems and implementing “V-bucks” into the popular Fortnite game.īoth the Apple iOS App Store and the Google Play Store have policies in place to prevent developers from circumventing their in-app purchasing systems.įrom Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines: When Epic Games originally brought its lawsuit against Apple in 2020, it had simultaneously sued Google for similar reasons. Apple verdict, in which Epic was found to be in violation of Apple’s policies and ordered to pay back millions of dollars to the Cupertino tech giant. Google was likely motivated by the recent Epic Games v. This time it is Google suing Epic Games for breach of contract. In the newest installment of the Epic Games saga of court battles, Epic finds itself at the sharp end.
Dave Bell, Co-founder and CEO of Gummicube, looks at the legal battles Fornite publisher Epic Games is embroiled with, against both Apple and Google.