Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
The fight between Epic Games and Apple continues as the former has filed a request with the court to find the latter in civil contempt. Epic Games argues that Apple has failed to abide by the court’s injunction. Judge Rogers has set an evidentiary hearing to “explore the factual basis” for the motion.
On April 23, 2024, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued an evidentiary hearing after reaching a preliminary conclusion that the trillion dollar company, Apple, is not complying with the injunction which was set following the Epic Games vs Apple case.
The two companies have been embroiled in court cases for a few years now. The situation began back in 2020 when Epic Games offered direct payments in its mobile version of Fortnite. This payment setup allowed Epic Games to circumvent Apple’s mobile store, effectively cutting the company out of earning any money from player purchases.
What followed was a lengthy back and forth, with Apple removing Fortnite from its platform, Epic Games filing legal papers, courts ruling that Apple needs to allow developers to use third-party payments options while Epic Games was ordered to pay Apple millions as a result of breaching the store contract, and much more.
This latest news sees Epic Games requesting that the court find Apple in civil contempt. As the filing puts it, the original injunction required Apple to “implement certain practice changes relative to in- and out-of-app purchases.” Judge Rogers has set the hearing date for Wednesday, May 8, 2024, with hopes that it will conclude on that date. In the event it does not reach a conclusion, the judge has allowed for two additional days of hearings on May 10 and May 17.
It seems as though this dispute between Epic Games and Apple is set to continue for just a bit longer. Be sure to read over our Apple vs Epic Games topic for a rundown of what has been happening between the two companies (and others) over the past four years.