Apple has won the long-drawn antitrust court battle in the US against Fortnite maker Epic Games over its App Store policies.The ruling is a major setback for Epic Games and other developers and could set precedent for further antitrust claims, according to reports.
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld the district court's earlier ruling related to Epic Games' antitrust claims in favour of Apple, reports TechCrunch.However, it also upheld the lower court's judgment in favour of Epic under California's Unfair Competition Law.
"Today's decision reaffirms Apple's resounding victory in this case, with nine of ten claims having been decided in Apple's favour. For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels," the tech giant said in a statement.
"We respectfully disagree with the court's ruling on the one remaining claim under state law and are considering further review," it added.Tim Sweeney, Epic Games Founder and CEO, tweeted: "Lost another court verdict, climbed another mountain. The world has come a long way since 2020 when this journey began, with much progress achieved by many people in many nations around the world. And onward we go!"
Sweeney said that Apple prevailed at the 9th Circuit Court."Though the court upheld the ruling that Apple's restraints have aa substantial anticompetitive effect that harms consumers', they found we didn't prove our Sherman Act case," he added.
"Fortunately, the court's positive decision rejecting Apple's anti-steering provisions frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there. We're working on next steps," he further posted.
Epic originally sued Apple in 2020, as Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store after the game maker intentionally violated the App Store terms over in-app purchases.