A California magistrate judge has ordered Valve to comply with Apple’s recent request for financial data on more than 400 Steam titles.
Earlier this month, Apple turned to Steam for data on annual sales of apps, IAPs and external products, along with details on Steam revenue.
The iPhone maker said the information will be used in its long legal battle with Epic, as it will allow it to calculate the “total market size of Epic’s digital distribution channels.” Apple explained that it had already contacted Samsung with a similar request, which the court eventually found relevant to the matter in question.
Valve backed down against Apple and essentially told the company that it did not see how its data, drawn from a completely different platform and market, would be relevant in the case.
“Somehow, in a dispute over mobile apps, a PC game maker that doesn’t compete in the mobile market or sell‘ apps ’is represented as a key figure,” Valve said. “It’s not.”
As Kotaku reported, however, a judge has told Valve to share data on 436 specific titles sold through Steam as of 2017.
Judge Hixson said Valve has until mid-March to comply with the order, and told his legal team that “Apple has salted the ground with subpoenas, so don’t worry, it’s not just you.”
Epic and Apple will launch in May 2021 to resolve their legal dispute, which resulted in life after the Fortnite The manufacturer tried to circumvent the App Store platform rates using third-party payment methods, prompting Apple to withdraw Fortnite from their platforms.