Ninety-eight Fortnite ads
Epic games
On Wednesday, Apple and Epic Games set out in separate legal files that consider key facts and major legal issues ahead of an antitrust lawsuit due in May.
Apple and Epic Games, best known for their Fortnite game, have been in a legal battle since last year after Epic Games tried to avoid the 30% Apple App Store rate by using a server software update that surpassed Apple’s App Store payment system. Apple responded by removing Fortnite from its App Store, effectively preventing iPhone users from playing the game.
Senior executives of both companies are expected to testify in person in federal court in Oakland, California, in a trial that is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
According to court statements, Apple executives may testify, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple SVP Craig Federighi, and former head of marketing Phil Schiller. Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney is also on the trial’s witness list.
Each company’s evening presentations are long and complete with details. Below is a summary with vignettes of how each company will plan to present its case to the courts:
Apple will argue that:
- Its 30% commission is essentially the same as other online software stores like Google Play or video game console stores and Apple’s rate has decreased over time.
- It faces competition for both iPhones and other gaming platforms.
- Its App Store policies have caused a boom in the software industry and led to increased user security.
- The App Store is a basic and integrated feature of the iPhone and the use of Apple payments for digital purchases is a key feature.
Epic will argue that:
- Apple is forcing consumers to take on high switching costs to stop using Apple products and block them.
- As Apple has accumulated more customers and closed them down, the importance of selling software to Apple customers has grown.
- Apple controls the only way to install software on an iPhone through the App Store.
- Apple uses its app review process, which manually scans individual apps for anti-competitive purposes, removing apps for business reasons under the pretext of security.
- Because some developers have opted to raise the price of iPhone software due to Apple’s 30% share, consumers pay more and Fortnite is an example.
Read the Apple presentation here and the Epic Games presentation here.