Apple can skip the court slap from Epic Games

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Apple can skip the court slap from Epic Games
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Consumers like the convenience of Apple handling app payments

In the legal battle against the creator of Fortnite, Epic Games, Apple is coming off with minor blows. A judge ruled that it should relax its restrictions on the App Store. But habits are hard to break.

Epic sued Apple in 2020, claiming it forced third-party developers to use Apple’s payment system for in-app digital purchases. Companies like Epic have to pay up to 30% of their income from purchases in the store as fees to Apple. A US judge said on Friday that Apple is free to continue requiring third parties to visit its App Store and may continue to charge fees. But it has to loosen the rules, allowing developers to direct their customers to other payment methods, such as their own web pages.

The ruling is a vast extension of the concession Apple made last week with Japanese regulators, agreeing to let developers link to an external website. Still, in principle, it may not move the counter. Apple’s dominance over buying games is a consequence of how many people use their phones. In the US, its share is around 47% of the market, according to eMarketer.

Fortnite is popular enough that it can attract players to its own website. But consumers like the convenience of Apple handling app payments, and they’re in the habit. In fact, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that the ruling was not a victory.

A bigger problem caused by Apple’s dominance is the $ 194 billion it has in its coffers. Regular reinventions are part of its popularity, and that’s the result of hiring the best developers and marketers. Meanwhile, Epic continues to raise money outside of the stock markets to try to grow, and engaging in legal battles is expensive. In an antitrust battle, cash is the deciding factor.

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