“In addition, Apple will not consider any request for reinstatement until the district court’s judgment is final and without appeal,” said the letter from Apple’s attorney, a copy of which was provided to CNN Business by Epic.
In a contentious lawsuit that lasted most of May, Epic argued that the App Store was a monopoly because it was the only way to access hundreds of millions of iPhone users, and that Apple has hurt competition by banning other app stores or payment methods on its devices. . Apple has sought to play down this argument by pointing out that the iPhone is one of the many devices on which Fortnite users can play the game and purchase its V-bucks in in-game currency, including Android smartphones (Epic leads a similar lawsuit against Google) and video game consoles such as the PlayStation and Xbox, many of which also don’t allow alternative payment methods and charge similar commissions.
“Apple lied,” he said, citing earlier statements in which Apple said it would welcome Epic’s return if it agreed to play by the same rules as everyone else on the App Store. . “Epic agreed, and now Apple has given up on yet another abuse of its billion-user monopoly power.”
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on Sweeney’s tweets, but pointed CNN Business to parts of the court ruling where the judge ruled in Apple’s favor.
“With more than 30 million registered iOS developers, it is not particularly surprising, nor necessarily bad, that Apple does not negotiate terms in general,” the judge wrote.
Sweeney vowed on Wednesday that Epic would continue to pressure Apple.
