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Apple petitioned a U.S. federal court Tuesday to order the manufacturer of Fortnite, Epic games, pay for damages in a legal dispute over the iPhone manufacturer’s online market rules.
The American tech giant sought “compensatory and punitive damages” in an unspecified amount for breach of contract in its response to Epic’s lawsuit last month, which accused Apple of abuse of dominance by requiring app developers to pay. a 30% commission for payments through your App Store.
“Although Epic presents itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, it is actually a multi-billion dollar company that just doesn’t want to pay anything for the tremendous value it gets from the App Store,” Apple said in its petition, filed in federal court. Of California.
Apple argued that Epic “He would like to take advantage of the benefits of the App Store without paying anything for them.”
In addition, he claimed that Epic has taken advantage of the iOS ecosystem with some 130 million downloads of its games in 174 countries, which translated for Epic to more than 500 million dollars, before complaining and seeking “special treatment.”
Epic has been trying to convince the California court to reinstate the popular game Fortnite on the Apple App Store pending legal proceedings, arguing that doing so is of “public interest”.
The two companies are deciding whether Apple’s strict control over the App Store and its 30% cut in revenue from the App offered there are monopolistic behavior.
Apple retired Fortnite from its online mobile app marketplace on August 13 after Epic released an update that skips revenue sharing with the iPhone maker.
Last month, a US court rejected Epic’s offer to reinstate Fortnite on the App Store, saying its removal by Apple was a “self-inflicted wound.”
Due to the legal dispute, Fortnite fans using iPhones or other Apple products no longer have access to the latest game updates, including the new season released in late August.
Apple does not allow users of its popular devices to download applications from anywhere other than its App Store.
The dispute comes as Apple and other tech giants face heightened scrutiny for their dominance in various economic sectors, allowing them to grow even as the economy shrinks from the impact of the US pandemic. coronavirus.
In the latest court document, Apple challenged Epic’s description of its conduct as “retaliation,” saying it was only enforcing rules agreed to by both firms.
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