Apple asks US Supreme Court to overrule an earlier decision in another Epic court drama

If you thought in 2020 that the court beef between Apple and Epic Games (the guys behind the insanely popular game Fortnite) was to be resolved in a year or two, you’re all wrong. We are already into the second half of 2023, and the legal battle rages on.

This time the US Supreme Court is about to be brought into the fight by Apple (via 9to5Mac). The Cupertino giant asks the highest court in the land to overrule and reconsider one of the rulings in the notorious case versus Epic Games.

If you ran out of Netflix series and have paid close attention to all episodes of this tech drama, surely you remember that back in September of 2021, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple could no longer prohibit iOS developers from selling content in their apps using third-party payment platforms.

Now Apple is desperate to make that decision disappear, because allowing developers to sell in-app content using third-party platforms, even when those apps are distributed through the App Store, will mean less profit for Apple. How much less are we talking about here? Well, according to some data, Apple brings in more than $30 billion yearly from App Store in-app revenue.

How did we come to this?

Given the fact that total billings and sales in the App Store ecosystem in 2022 generated $1.1 trillion, it’s easy to understand why any legal matter regarding the App Store ecosystem is vital to Apple.

In 2020, players of the ultra popular game Fortnite discovered that they could make in-app purchases, like digital coins (used in the game), at a lower price than usual via an external method, bypassing Apple’s payment system and avoiding the 30% tax that inflates the total sum.

Apple immediately shut down Fortnite and removed it from the App Store, and Epic Media filed a lawsuit. The game developers argued that the company is a monopoly and induces anti-competitive practices. The rest is history.

Don’t hold your breath for the saga to conclude any time soon. The US Supreme Court could easily drag this until 2025!