App Store: the Supreme Court of the United States rejects the requests of Apple and Epic, victory by apple points

The App Store monopoly is no longer in danger in the United States, much to the chagrin of Epic Games.

Yet another episode in the affair between Epic Games and Apple. On January 16, 2024, the United States Supreme Court rejected a request for a hearing from each company, which will therefore not be able to be heard by the courts. This decision is above all a hard blow for Epic.

The war is lost for Epic

It now seems highly unlikely that the publisher will win its case. As a reminder, Apple had banned Fortnite from the App Store after the establishment of a third-party payment system, bypassing that of the Apple firm’s application store.

Epic Games demanded the return of Fortnite to the App Store and that American justice force Apple to accept third-party application stores on iOS, where the App Store has a monopoly. The company will therefore have failed, after years of proceedings.

“The Supreme Court has rejected both sides’ appeals in the Epic v. Apple antitrust case. The legal battle to open iOS to competing stores and payments is lost in the United States. A sad result for all developers »reacted Tim Sweeney, the boss of Epic, on X.com.

A new App Store in Europe?

Apple’s victory, however, is not resounding. A previous decision, also confirmed by the Supreme Court today, forces the American giant to end its anti-management policy. Developers will therefore be able to include in their applications “buttons, external links or other calls to action” that direct customers to external purchasing mechanisms. Users may therefore be redirected to other platforms to make payments. Major applications like Spotify or Netflix will have a field day.

Another reason for hope for Epic Games is the regulation of digital markets (DMA), which is due to come into force within the European Union on March 7, 2024. Apple will have to respect new rules, and is already planning an alternative App Store reserved for European users to comply with it while maintaining its monopoly on other markets.

Sources: Supreme Court of the United States, The Verge