It was sure nice to have a few days off from the Epic Games vs Apple conflict, wasnāt it? But grab your popcorn and maybe a fresh pretzel, because the show is not over. Now Apple is seeking damages from Epicās breach of contract, and responded to Epicās recent requests that it be forced to reinstateĀ Fortnite. This is a juicy one, Iām not going to lie.
If you want to see where this whole mess got started, I recommend reading this, this, or this. Long story short: Epic tried to get around the App Store payment system within Fortnite, Apple bannedĀ Fortnite, and Epicās claiming Apple is an unjust monopoly.Ā When last we checked in with these two, Epic had lost its bid to getĀ FortniteĀ back on the App Store via emergency restraining order, and a judge told Epic that it was essentially its own fault and no way were they going to giveĀ FortniteĀ a free ride. The same judge also told Apple it couldnāt remove Epicās developer tools as a way of going scorched earth on Epic because of the case. Both sides got a legal fingerwag, as neither could claim to have clean hands. So now what?
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Well, now Apple is throwing some legal punches itself. The filing it entered earlier this week seeks damages for Epic breaching its agreement by instating its own payment system, and asks that Epic be kept from further unfair practices. It sums up Epicās efforts thus: āEpicās intention is thus straightforward: It seeks free access to the Apple-provided tools that it uses andāworse yetāit wishes to then charge others for access to Appleās intellectual property and technologies.ā
Apple also responded to Epicās last legal filing, in which it asked for an injunction that would force Apple to reinstateĀ Fortnite. Iāll spare you the detailsā¦ just kidding, no I wonāt. Epicās injunction asks that Apple be legally constrained from removing or modifyingĀ FortniteĀ on the App Store, and contends that āFortnite is more than just a game.ā It contends that Apple has ācleaved millions of users from their friends and familyā by cutting off access toĀ FortniteĀ on iOS. This is its argument in a nutshell:
Daily active users on iOS have declined by over 60% since Fortniteās removal from the App Store. And removal already has resulted in a loss of goodwill and irreparable damage to Epicās reputation. The continued loss of Fortnite as a gathering place for users on all platforms will lead Epicās customers to defect. Epic may never see these users again. It will also be denied the opportunity to access even a single new user among the one-billion-plus iOS users for at least the next year.
My favorite part of Epicās injunction is when it says āIt is highly likely [Apple will] lose this case.ā Yes, keep telling yourselves that. It also says, āThe user outcry has been deafeningā regarding theĀ Fortnite ban, which is extra amusing because Epicās been desperately trying to make user outcry happen, up to and including crafting its own hashtag accompanying that ridiculous āNineteen Eighty-Fortniteā video.
Appleās response to this? According to its filing, āEpicās lawsuit is nothing more than a basic disagreement over money. Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that simply wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store.ā And wow, get me the giant bottle of lotion for that burn. It also adds, āThere is nothing anticompetitive about charging a commission for others to use oneās service.ā It also added that Epic CEO Tim Sweeney asked for a āside letterā in June that would essentially allow it to run a competing app within the App Store and do āa complete end-runā around Appleās fees. It also punctures a notion Epic proposed as an alternative to its current payment model, which is ācharging a regressive āper download fee,āĀ leaving consumers and developers on the hook to pay for what otherwise would be billions of free app downloads.ā
This is my favorite part, if only because of the ājust so done with thisā attitude Appleās copping:
While Epic and its CEO take issue with the terms on which Apple has since 2008 provided the App Store to all developers, this does not provide cover for Epic to breach binding contracts, dupe a long-time business partner, pocket commissions that rightfully belong to Apple, and then ask this Court to take a judicial sledgehammer to one of the 21st Centuryās most innovative business platforms simply because it does not maximize Epicās revenues. By any measure, the App Store has revolutionized the marketplace and greatly benefitted consumers and app developers like Epic. Apple looks forward to defending against Epicās baseless claims.
Iām not trying to take sides in this dispute between big companies over a pile of money, butĀ dayum, son.
Much like Epic keeps repeating āApple maintains an illegal monopolyā as its argument, Apple keeps repeating āEpic brought this on themselves with their nonsenseā in response. I would not want to be the judge who has to read the many, many variations of those two sentences, honestly. Iām really lucky that I can be on the sidelines gobbling treats.
Meanwhile, if you were wondering where the heck Google is in all this ā itās apparently trying not to be in it at all. Google filed its own injunction essentially asking to keep the cases of Epic vs Apple and Epic vs Google separate, as its issues with Epic are different from Appleās. Itās a legitimate reason, donāt get me wrong, but it somewhat comes across like Google is begging to be left out of the media circus this case has become (says one of the junior ringleaders).
Epic has just over a week to respond to Appleās filing.
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