Epic Games won a partial legal victory in its antitrust case, and now it’s set in stone as the U.S. Supreme Court denied to hear Apple’s appeal.
Reuters reported the court denied Apple’s request to temporarily block a judge’s order that found that Apple had violated court-mandated changes to its App Store. Epic Games had accused Apple of dragging its feet and charging too many fees as it attempted to reinstrate Fortnite in the Apple App Store.
Previously, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rule Apple was in contempt of a lower court’s decision to force Apple to allow Epic back in the store and allow Epic to direct users off the store to its own website where it charged lower prices for digital goods.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, posted his approval of the high court’s decision not to hear the case. He wrote in a tweet: “Great news – the Supreme Court denied Apple’s delay tactics. Now we head back to the District Court to determine what Apple can charge for only the necessary costs of implementing external purchase links.”
Fortnite is back in Google Play stores worldwide thanks to a settlement with Epic Games, but Epic and Apple have not settled. Fortnite is back in the U.S. store, the European Union and Australia. In Japan, Fortnite is now accessible via Epic Games’ web store but not in the Apple App Store itself.