What Was Epic Games And Apple's Epic Battle All About?

Epic Games is responsible for one of the biggest games around right now. The software developer has been around since 1991 and created a game engine that’s now behind some of the most prominent video games to date. Apple is responsible for revolutionizing the smartphone market and bringing music into the 21st century. It’s created some immense products that have dominated the world of tech, including smartwatches, tablets, and portable music devices.

Each has achieved some incredible feats, and together, they could be incredibly powerful. After all, we sometimes need to join forces if we’re going to dominate the world, but that doesn’t mean that things always go to plan. Unfortunately, Epic Games and Apple have been too busy having an epic battle to join forces. What is that all about?

What started this epic battle?

The battle royale title ‘Fortnite’ is a massive hit, generating $9 billion in revenue in just two years. The game, developed by Epic Games, is available across many different platforms, being particularly popular on smartphones. This means it’s available on Apple’s app store, and that’s where the issues between the two companies lie. It appears that Epic Games doesn’t love how much Apple charges the companies whose games are available on their devices. They reportedly get 30% of what Epic Games makes through in-app payments, which obviously translates to a lot of money. The game developer was so enraged by this that they opted to sue Apple, with the trial playing out across several weeks in May 2021.

What happened during the trial?

Things were heated between the two companies before the trial, but the epic battle between Epic Games vs. Apple kicked up a notch once proceedings began. For one, there were arguments over what constituted a game, with ‘Fortnite’s’ developer claiming that their title was a “metaverse.” This didn’t sit well with Apple, who wanted to restrict the court case to just the makers of games rather than the makers of all apps. There were also issues regarding protecting children against obscenity, with Epic Games wanting to loosen the tight controls currently in place on the app store.

They both had a lot to defend

Apple’s attempts to justify their restriction ultimately came back to bite them after the opposition provided evidence of some very child-unfriendly content on the platform. One interesting piece of information that came out during the trial was that what Epic Games pays in commission to Apple is actually less than the likes of Microsoft and Sony. They’ve paid the latter over $450 million in the last few years, but just $237 million to Apple. However, Epic’s defense was that these companies sell their consoles at a loss, so they have to charge developers more, whereas Apple makes a ton from iPhones.

What was the verdict of this epic battle?

Things continued to go back and forth in the courtroom as both companies hoped to walk away victorious. Epic Games was accused of preplanning its epic battle as many believed they had hashtags and evidence ready ahead of time, while Apple attempted to ban the company from using its software ever again. In the end, the judge ruled in Apple’s favor in September 2021. Here, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers favored nine out of ten counts the company brought to the courtroom, only refusing to allow Apple from banning apps from informing users about payment systems away from the app store. Although Epic Games appealed the ruling, there have been no more trials. That didn’t mean it was the end for the company, as Epic Games has since filed a similar lawsuit against Google.

It once seemed that Epic Games and Apple’s epic battle would never come to an end as the companies were both determined to fight their corner in court. Ultimately, only one could walk away victorious, and unless an appeal goes through and is successful, that is Apple.