The boss of Epic Games, the publisher of the video game phenomenon Fortnite, said Tuesday that his company’s legal battle to force Apple to open its iPhones to alternative application stores was “lost” after the refusal of the Supreme Court American to hear the case.
“The legal battle to open iOS (Apple’s mobile operating system) to competing stores and payment services is lost in the United States,” wrote Tim Sweeney on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is a sad outcome for all developers,” he added.
The Supreme Court announced it would not hear appeals from Apple or Epic in the long-running case, bringing the legal saga to an end.
In 2020, Epic launched proceedings against Apple and Google, which far dominate the global mobile economy via Android and iOS, and commissions on user purchases. The studio accuses them of exercising a monopoly on this market.
Apple and Google charge up to 30% of all financial transactions made in their app stores, sparking complaints of an unfair “tax” on businesses.
Two years ago, following the lawsuit between Apple and Epic, an American federal judge asked the Apple brand to let publishers offer alternative payment methods to users, but above all she considered that Epic did not failed to prove that Apple had violated competition law.
The two companies appealed the decision, which was taken to the Supreme Court.
Tim Sweeney said it was now up to governments and regulators to order Apple to make its iPhones compatible with new payment systems.
He also praised the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will make this possible in Europe from March 7.
Last month, Epic scored an unexpected victory in the United States against Google, when a jury decided that the internet giant was abusing its power to stifle competition in the mobile app market through Android.
Unlike Apple, Google allows alternative stores, but according to Epic Games, this is an illusion, and Android is hardly more open than iOS.
