Epic vs Apple: US Supreme Court declines to hear appeals, ending legal battle

Epic Games scored a victory last month in a long-running case against Google, with a federal jury declaring the Google Play Store a monopoly. Following this, Epic Games' CEO said that Apple was next. However, it seems like that might not be the case after all.

According to Reuters, the Epic Games vs Apple legal saga, lasting over three years, has finally wrapped up – at least for now, as you will see if you continue reading. The US Supreme Court decided not to hear appeals from either company, letting the previous judgments from lower courts stand.

In 2020, Epic threw an antitrust lawsuit at Apple, claiming it was playing the illegal monopolist game. The gripe was that Apple forces folks to snag apps from its App Store and purchase digital goodies using its own system. Oh, and Apple takes a cut, pocketing up to 30% in commissions for in-app buys.

Epic's legal team couldn't quite pin the antitrust label on Apple in the lower courts. Still, the District Court did call out Apple for some not-so-cool moves, specifically anti-steering tactics. Basically, Apple got called out for playing referee and stopping developers from letting users know about other payment options.

In 2021, a court ordered Apple to address its anti-steering practices. However, implementation was on hold during the appeal process. Now, with the legal battle concluded, Apple has to comply with the court order. In essence, this means allowing app developers to include links and buttons guiding users to alternative payment methods for in-app content.

Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic, stated on X, "As of today, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web."

Apple swiftly made updates to its App Store Review Guidelines, introducing a new section outlining the dos and don'ts regarding external payments for apps. It's important to note that these modifications apply to the iPhone and iPad App Store and are applicable solely in the United States.

Yet, these fresh guidelines might not be set in stone. Sweeney has already announced that Epic will contest them, arguing that Apple is not complying with the injunction in good faith. Seems like the Apple vs Epic legal saga isn't quite ready to wrap up. Keep an eye out for more updates!