Epic Games’ popular battle royale Fortnite has returned to the US Google Play Store following a court order.
The game maker had recently settled its five-year court battle with the tech giant, which stemmed from a dispute over what percentage of in-app purchase sales app developers had to share with the platforms. However, the company lost some ground in the related lawsuit against Apple, which also involved restrictions on in-app purchases and the structure of fees.
After Epic Games released a version of the Fortnite game routed around existing in-app payment systems on iOS and Android devices in 2020, Apple and Google removed the game from their respective app stores. Epic Games used this move to subsequently file antitrust lawsuits against both companies.
In Apple’s case, the court ruled that the iPhone maker did not have a monopoly, but said that Apple should allow developers to indicate other payment mechanisms if they choose. Apple is struggling with the specific terms of that deal, which were in effect today partially inverted by an appeals court that called some of the restrictions “excessive.”
It’s worth noting that the new filing says that Apple can tell developers not to make their paid links bigger or more prominent than Apple’s own. It also says that Apple is allowed to charge a fee for purchases made outside of its App Store. The latter is a major blow to developers, who eventually managed to bypass Apple’s commission.
Meanwhile, Epic Games has reason to celebrate by returning to the Google Play Store after Google lost its legal battle with the game developer, where it was found to have engaged in anti-competitive behavior. Under the new agreement, Google allows app developers to indicate alternative payment mechanisms and limit the fees Google could charge.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called it a “total solution” that doubled on Android as an open platform.
Apple’s decision is as follows:
