Apple has emerged as the victor in most parts of the appeal in its court battle against Epic Games. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Apple"s move to not allow third-party app stores on its iOS devices did not violate anti-trust laws.
CNBC reports that Apple was pleased with the ruling, with a spokesperson stating:
Today’s decision reaffirms Apple’s resounding victory in this case, with nine of 10 claims having been decided in Apple’s favor. For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels.
Epic Games originally sued Apple in 2020, after Apple removed its hit game Fortnite from the iOS App Store. This was due to Epic launching an in-game payment system for the battle royale game that bypassed the Apple payment system. Epic claimed Apple"s actions to ban such a move were anti-competitive.
Today"s appeals court ruling supports the decisions that a lower court announced in September 2021, which said that it "cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws." However, that court did rule that Apple cannot keep developers from using outside payment methods, and the appeals court also agreed with that decision today.
Apple did state today that it may pursue more legal action in this case. So far, Epic Games has not issued a statement. This court decision comes even as unconfirmed rumors claim Apple will add support for sideloading apps in Europe for its upcoming iOS 17 update.