The hearings in the trial between Apple and Epic Games are over. For three weeks, both companies were questioned in court. Now they’re waiting for the verdict. As a refresher, we list the most important events during the interviews. How did the lawsuit come about again? In August 2020, Fortnite, the popular Epic Games shooting game, was removed from Apple’s digital store. The developer had added its own payment system to the iOS version in order to circumvent Apple’s Commission. The Commission amounts to 30% of the revenue from the AppStore, and Epic Games considers this percentage too high. After the removal of Fortnite, Apple was accused of abuse of power by Epic Games. On the same day, the game developer filed a lawsuit. Epic Games: ‘Apple has total control and abused market position” On the first day of the trial, Epic Games lashed out hard at Apple and its Appstore Commission. Epic Games ‘ lawyer stated that Apple’s sole purpose was to steal money from developers who would otherwise not have access to a billion users. Apple refuted the claim and said it needed the commission to ensure safety and quality in the digital store. Without the commission, users would have to entrust their sensitive payment data to third parties, the tech company argues. Apple would have made over 82 million euros from Fortnite In the third week of the trial, Apple employee Michael Schmid claimed that the tech manufacturer earned over 82 million euros from Fortnite. The amount is a rough estimate. Schmid, who has a leading role in the development and gaming division of the App Store, did not want to give an exact amount, nor did he want to say whether the revenue amounted to more than 200 million dollars (more than 164 million euros), because it would be “inappropriate” to share that information. According to Schmid, Apple has also spent over 820,000 euros on marketing around the shooting game during the last eleven months it was on the AppStore. Epic’s lawyer matched that $ 1 million against the $ 100 million worth of revenue. He called this a good deal. Apple maintains position that 30 percent commission is needed On the last day of the hearing, Apple CEO Tim Cook insists that the Commission is needed to keep the AppStore working and safe. “Only those who benefit greatly contribute 30 percent.”According to Cook, there is enough competition in the field of app stores. For example, Google lowered its commission for many developers to 15 percent after Apple did the same. The judge didn’t exactly go along with that. “I understand that Google may have lowered its prices for that reason, but your own decision didn’t initially depend on it.” The court also asked why banks and transactions are exempt from the commission, while Game Developers are not. According to Cook, the difference is that Apple only asks Commission on the sale of digital goods. The judge pointed out to the tech company that, however, Apple had determined that rule itself. Because of the size of the case, it can take a few weeks to a few months. The earliest time the ruling can be made is at the end of May.
