Apple Scores Another Win in Epic Antitrust Dispute

ign.com:

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Apple's App Store policies, saying that it doesn't violate federal antitrust law. The ruling confirms an earlier decision in an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, Bloomberg reports.

The latest decision is another blow to Epic in its ongoing dispute with Apple over the 30 percent cut it takes in in-app purchases. The dispute resulted in Fortnite being removed from the App Store — a deliberate PR play intended to weaponize the battle royale's vast fanbase.

The case has been wending its way through the courts ever since, with the latest decision in favor of Apple. However, the court also upheld a 2021 ruling that the App Store violate California's unfair competition law, which resulted in an injunction forcing Apple to permit developers on its platform to link to outside payment options with their apps.

"There is a lively and important debate about the role played in our economy and democracy by online transaction platforms with market power," the three-judge panel said. "Our job as a federal court of appeals, however, is not to resolve that debate — nor could we even attempt to do so. Instead, in this decision, we faithfully applied existing precedent to the facts."

Apple called the decision a "resounding victory" in a statement to Bloomberg, but said that it was considering further action on the state law ruling.

IGN reached out to Epic Games for a statement, but did not receive an immediately comment.

The previous decision saw US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rule that the dispute was ultimately over "digital mobile gaming transactions," and that it couldn't conclude that Apple has a monopoly in that market. However, the court did call Apple's conduct