Apple, the manufacturer of iPhones, asked a federal judge in California to reject a request by “Fortnite” producer Epic Games to hold it in contempt and denied breaking a court order restricting its App Store.
Apple has reportedly asked U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland to deny Epic Games’ motion to have it held in contempt, according to a Reuters story.
The conflict arose from a lawsuit that Epic Games filed in 2020, alleging that Apple had violated antitrust laws by tightly controlling the App Store ecosystem, especially about in-app purchases and software distribution.
Even though Judge Rogers gave Apple the order to give developers more latitude in referring customers to other payment options for digital sales, Epic Games’ lawsuit against the company was mainly unsuccessful.
The Apple document denounced what it saw as Epic’s attempt to offer Apple’s “tools and technologies to developers for free.”
According to the statement, Epic requested that the court “micromanage Apple’s business operations in a way that would increase Epic’s profitability.”
Other industry participants have also taken notice of the legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games. Elon Musk’s X, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Match have all echoed Epic’s claims that Apple is breaking the court’s ruling.
In a similar case, “Fortnite” video game developer Epic Games’ petition against Apple’s noncompliance with a court-ordered injunction controlling payments in its lucrative App Store has been joined by Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Elon Musk’s X, and Match Group.
The tech companies said that by making it impossible for customers to find cheaper ways to pay for digital material, Apple was in “clear violation” of the Sept. 2021 order.
These companies created some of the most well-known apps in the App Store.
