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Epic Games Ltd. withdrew the latest submission in its battle against Apple Inc. on Friday night when the game maker once again requested a court order to restore Fortnite on the iPhone maker’s App Store.
The dispute between the two companies started. Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple on August 13 alleging that the App Store is an illegal monopoly after Fortnite, the world’s most popular game, was banned.
The move came after Epic added support for in-app payments, a violation of Apple’s terms and conditions. Epic managed to obtain a court order against Apple on August 25 to keep its Apple developer account, but failed to restore Fortnite at its first court hearing.
In the new filing, Epic argues that it is “likely to suffer irreparable harm” if Fortnite is not available on the App Store and that “the balance of the damages tilts dramatically in Epic’s favor.” Repeating an argument Epic made previously, the filing again describes Apple as a “monopolist” that unfairly obtains that status by “explicitly prohibiting any competitive entry.”
Although much of the 182-page submission echoed previous claims, recent Fortnite user stats were new. According to Epic, out of around 350 million registered Fortnite users, 116 million users use the iOS version of the game and 63% of them play Fortnite on Apple devices alone. Since Fortnite has been banned from the App Store, Epic claims that the number of daily active users on iOS has decreased by more than 60%.
“Today we ask the Court to prevent Apple from retaliating against Epic for daring to challenge Apple’s misconduct while advancing our antitrust case,” Epic said in a statement. “Apple is a monopolist and confronting them is a necessary step to free consumers and developers from the illegal restrictions that Apple has imposed on the distribution of applications and the processing of payments in the application on iOS.”
Epic added that “for too long, developers have not spoken out because they fear retaliation from Apple. Recent actions by the company show that if it challenges Apple’s monopoly, Apple will try to destroy its business. We are committed to speaking out and ensuring competitive, lower-cost access for all. “
Apple did not respond directly to the new filing, referring CNN Business to its earlier statement: “The court recommended that Epic adhere to App Store guidelines as their case progresses, guidelines they have followed for the past decade until they created this situation. . Epic has refused. We look forward to working together again in the future, but unfortunately that is not possible today. “
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 28.
Image: Fortnite
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