![]() ![]() Apple also highlighted other digital storefronts which take a similar cut of sales and transactions, and called the fee a “hallmark of competition.”īut what ultimately makes Apple’s 30% fee different from those competitors is the scale of its market. In other words, “Apple isn’t a monopoly, but even if we were, you wouldn’t be able to prove it.”ĭunn claimed that Apple did not establish the 30% fee on the App Store, but that it became an industry standard set by digital games platform Steam in 2003 - by the time the App Store came around, Dunn argued, Apple just adopted standard practice. Apple’s attorney Karen Dunn argued that Epic’s specific grievance with Fortnite cannot adequately prove that Apple’s general practices, or its 30% fee, are anticompetitive. Though it was steeped in the same faux-revolutionary imagery as its lawsuit announcement trailer, Epic’s opening statements nonetheless made a compelling case for the removal of the 30% fee, which is wildly unpopular among developers and founders looking to develop the mobile side of their business.ĭespite interruptions due to technical difficulties, Apple’s opening statement came out strong - even if its own crowd-riling language didn’t. Epic even pulled out an image of the iOS logo obscured by bricks just to make sure you really get it. The extended metaphor was used by Epic in its opening statement to describe Apple’s practice of not letting other stores onto the iOS platform and preventing users who leave from taking things like their iMessages with them. “Walled Garden” was one of the most common terms used by Katherine Forrest, Epic’s legal counsel in the case. The outcome of the trial, which could potentially see Apple's 30% fee removed or allow for other app stores to exist on iOS, has the potential to change the tech landscape forever. ![]() On the other hand, Apple spent its time saying Epic’s specific grievances can’t be used to determine whether Apple is anti-competitive, and painted Epic’s desires as a threat to the security of consumers and developers who rely on the app store. Epic spent its opening statement continuing the liberator narrative with rally cries like “Epic is suing for change.” The company framed Apple’s 30% fee on all App Store transactions - the issue at the heart of the lawsuit - not as a fee, but as a tax. For these people, the product they use is a part of who they are.īut instead of a clash of titans, Monday’s proceedings primarily consisted of opening statements which mostly laid out the predictable arguments we’ve come to be familiar with ever since Fornite first got pulled from iOS. Though the company hasn’t gone to the lengths its rival has to market its argument, Apple has droves of fans who defend it and wait with bated breath each year to find out what colors the next incrementally improved iPhone is going to come in. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has even made “First They Came…” allusions to the litigation. The company has spent the better part of the year poking the fire and portraying itself as a liberator taking on the big bad Apple on behalf of the little guy. It’s hard to blame them - this is, after all, the lawsuit that Epic Games made an in-game trailer to hype up the announcement of. What they got instead was, you know, a court proceeding. Fans of the two multi-billion dollar mega-corporations took to Twitch and Twitter to flame the other side and root for their favorite LLC to come out on top. Within less than an hour the other line had gone dead, giving way to a boy who used the line to say “Yo Sweeney, dog, you suck.” Meanwhile, The Game Awards streamed the proceedings on Twitch to an audience of thousands. Almost immediately, it fell into chaos.īefore the trial even began Monday morning, one of the audio access phone numbers was flooded with callers shouting “Free Fortnite” and blasting Travis Scott. The fated court battle between Epic Games and Apple over the removal of Fortnite from the App Store is finally here. ![]()
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