Apple said Epic’s Fortnight payment plan is “theft, period.”


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Enlarge / Apple Pal shows an example here ForniteThe alternative payment plan on iOS is similar to “stealing” through Epic Games.

The iOS version of Apple Games is being sued in its legal battle with Epic Games Fornite. In a sweeping motion filed Tuesday afternoon, Apple Play defended itself against Epic’s legal allegations, while also making allegations. Fornite Breach of contract and apparent theft in countersuit.

Although Paul writes, “Epic presents itself as a modern corporate robin hood, in fact it is a multi-billion dollar venture that simply doesn’t want to pay anything for the tremendous value it gets from the App Store,” writes Paul.

Who pays for?

In its own legal filings, Epic explores the right to provide what it calls a “competitive payment process on iOS” by going around the built-in purchase system in the iOS app store. Epic tried to do this unilaterally last month, adding a discounted Epic Direct Payments option to the iOS version. Fornite, A move that led Apple to ban Epic altogether from the App Store.

In addition to violating the agreement, Apple Paul says in its motion that Epic’s addition to direct payments was a “Trojan horse” that was “slightly more than a steal.” Using the “hotfix” update method intentionally hidden from the general app store review process, Apple Paul says Epic is seeking to take full advantage of Apple’s iOS platform and related services, while [lining] Epic’s pockets at Apple’s expense. “

In a later motion, Apple Paul says the introduction of direct payments in Epic’s game is “stealing, period.”

Epic has gladly agreed to the terms of the bridge agreement to access iOS development since 2008, Apple writes, earning more than million 600 million from sales of the App Store during that period. The fact that Epic no longer accepts the deal “does not provide Epic with a cover to breach binding agreements, a long-term business partner, a pocket commission that is properly Apple Palna, and then asks the court to take a judicial sledgehammer on one of them.” “The most innovative business platform of the 21st century simply because it doesn’t maximize epic revenue,” Apple writes.

IcPal adds that the percent0 percent iOS sales commission that APIC tried to get around is more than a simple payment processing fee. Instead, the fees reflect the immense value of the App Store, which is more than the sum of its parts and includes Apple’s technology, tools, software development for application development and testing, marketing efforts, platinum-level customer service and distribution to developers. “Apps and digital content.” It includes more than 150,000 APIs that Apple has created to facilitate iOS development, the company writes, as well as the Metal Graphics API that Epic itself has praised in the past.

Apple wrote in a letter to Epic in July in response to Epic’s request, “The App Store is not a public utility.” Epic has no right to cut, “Apple and the App Store give without paying a penny,” the company said.

No, you can’t have your own app store

Epic says in its own recent filings that it “does not seek to force Apple Pal to provide free delivery and processing services, nor does Epic want to enjoy Apple Paul’s services without paying them.”

Instead, Epic says it wants the freedom not to use Apple’s App Store or IAP, and would instead choose to “use and provide competitive services” on Apple’s hardware, on Windows PCs. That’s not possible, though, according to Epic, Apple has a monopoly on the market for all iOS software.

Apple Paul directly states in its motion that it “does not have a monopoly on any relevant market” and that “competition is fierce at every level, both inside and outside the App Store: for devices, platforms and personal applications.” More than that, though, Apple Pull says that “to ensure iOS stores meet Apple Pall’s high standards for privacy, security, content and quality, iOS apps need to go through the App Store infrastructure.”

Apple cites Epic’s own example on other platforms as proof of this requirement. When Epic started distributing the Android version Fornite Independently in 2018, Apple Paul writes that “Immediately appeared sites that don’t just advertise Android. Fornite Also distributed malware in the game. “Apple Pal also confirmed security vulnerabilities in the independently distributed Android version, requiring iOS protection.

Although Paul writes, “Apple does not leave Paul on any developer to keep the iOS platform safe and secure, especially since Epic has shown that it cannot be assigned this kind of responsibility.”

In addition to compensatory and punitive damages for breach of contract and other related violations, Ep Pal is seeking a restraining order continuing to use Epic’s own external payment processing method in acquired copies of the epic iOS version. Fornite Or future applications.