Latest news with #EpicGamesInc
The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Mobile-game makers poised for windfall following win over Apple
As part of a years-long dispute between Fortnite developer Epic Games Inc and Apple, Rogers last month ordered the iPhone maker to let developers sell their wares outside of the company's store, where most transactions are subject to a 15% to 30% commission. — Reuters Mobile-game developers may reap billions of dollars more in revenue this year as a result of a court ruling freeing them from rules imposed by Apple Inc's App Store. Aldora Intelligence, led by industry analyst Joost van Dreunen, estimates that US$4.1bil (RM17.40bil) in revenue could shift from Apple to developers, based on 2024 figures from the top 25 mobile-game publishers. More of the billions spent each year on digital currencies and items will end up in the hands of individuals and companies that create mobile games. As part of a years-long dispute between Fortnite developer Epic Games Inc and Apple, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers last month ordered the iPhone maker to let developers sell their wares outside of the company's store, where most transactions are subject to a 15% to 30% commission. Over the next few years, developers could reap as much as US$19.5bil (RM17.40bil) more in revenue that would have gone to app stores, according to Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Video-game companies may reinvest the money in attracting new players, who in turn could spend more on digital items like tools that help them advance. "These guys are going to make more money because Apple's going make less, dollar for dollar,' Pachter said. Already, some developers are offering players incentives to navigate away from Apple and make purchases elsewhere. In 2020, Apple barred the popular shooter title Fortnite from the App Store store after Epic Games linked to a website offering discounts on its digital V-Bucks currency. "There was always a concern with Apple that, if you offered a discount for a purchase out of the store, they'd kill the app' said Adam Smart, global director of product for market researcher AppsFlyer. In a report Wednesday, Aldora estimated the commissions mobile-game developers pay to app stores will decline by a third to about 20%. Aside from Epic Games and, occasionally, Microsoft Corp, mobile-game developers have been shy about discussing the impact of fees on their businesses. Top publishers like Take-Two Interactive Software Inc, Electronic Arts Inc, Roblox Corp, Scopely Inc and Supercell, owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd, declined to comment on the court ruling. Microsoft, which owns the King mobile games business, announced plans to open its own store last July, but the launch has been delayed. In a court brief filed by Microsoft, a representative said the company had been "stymied by Apple'. Take-Two, which reported US$730mil (RM 3.10bil) in mobile bookings last quarter, has created web stores for popular games including Empires & Puzzles and Zynga Poker . On a recent earnings call, chief executive officer Strauss Zelnick told analysts its direct-to-consumer stores have "become a significant and, indeed, material part of our business'. The recent court ruling reflects movement toward a more open app distribution ecosystem – "all positive signs for us,' he added. Like other mobile-game publishers, Zynga experienced a downturn earlier this decade. After Apple implemented privacy changes in 2021 that made it harder for mobile game developers to find audiences for their apps, mobile-game revenue fell 7% industrywide. The ruling won't only enrich app developers. Payments managers like Xsolla Inc and Stash have set up direct-to-consumer web stores for mobile-gaming companies with far lower commissions. On its website, Xsolla has created a calculator that lets developers figure out how much additional revenue they'll receive based on the share of business that leaves Apple and pays through its processing system, which takes a 5% fee. "It's a competitive industry fighting for the same customers,' said Justin Kan, co-founder of Stash. "If you have a way to substantially change your margin, you can't ignore it.' – Bloomberg
Bloomberg
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
Apple Denies Blocking ‘Fortnite' From EU Stores in Epic Dispute
Apple Inc. and Epic Games Inc. sparred over whether the iPhone maker was obstructing access to the hit game Fortnite, the latest tussle in a long-running feud over Apple's control of game distribution revenue. The game developer said that Apple 'blocked' its latest Fortnite app submission so that it can't be released in the US or on the third-party Epic Games Store in the EU. 'Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it,' the company wrote on its X account.
American Military News
01-05-2025
- Business
- American Military News
Apple must halt non-App Store sales commissions, judge says
Apple Inc. violated a court order requiring it to open up the App Store to third-party payment options and must stop charging commissions on purchases outside its software marketplace, a federal judge said in a blistering ruling that referred the company to prosecutors for a possible criminal probe. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided Wednesday with Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. over its allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with an order she issued in 2021 after finding the company engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of California law. Gonzalez Rogers also referred the case to federal prosecutors to investigate whether Apple committed criminal contempt of court for flouting her 2021 ruling. The U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco declined to comment. The changes the company must now make could put a sizable dent in the double-digit billions of dollars in revenue the App Store generates each year. Apple is potentially facing another multibillion-dollar hit from losing payments Google makes to be the default search engine for its Safari browser, which is the subject of an ongoing Justice Department antitrust case against the Alphabet Inc. unit. After several weeks of hearings last year and this year, Gonzalez Rogers concluded Wednesday that Apple 'willfully' violated her injunction. 'It did so with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers which would, by design and in effect, maintain a valued revenue stream; a revenue stream previously found to be anticompetitive,' she wrote in her 80-page ruling. 'That it thought this court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation.' Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Epic Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney called the ruling a 'huge victory for developers,' saying in a phone call with journalists it 'forces apple to compete with other payment services rather than blocking them.' Following a trial in 2021, Gonzalez Rogers largely sided with Apple, saying that its App Store policies didn't violate federal antitrust law. However, she required the company to let developers bypass its in-app payment tool to avoid a commission of up to 30%. The ruling was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year when it declined to hear appeals in the case. Apple allowed developers to point users to the web to complete transactions for in-app purchases, but required developers to pay the company a 27% cut of whatever revenue they generated. In Wednesday's ruling, the judge said Apple tried to cover up its noncompliance with her 2021 order. 'After two sets of evidentiary hearings, the truth emerged,' Gonzalez Rogers wrote. 'Apple, despite knowing its obligations thereunder, thwarted the injunction's goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revenue stream.' The judge said that Alex Roman, Apple's vice president of finance, lied on the witness stand. 'He even went so far as to testify that Apple did not look at comparables to estimate the costs of alternative payment solutions that developers would need to procure to facilitate linked-out purchases,' Gonzalez Rogers wrote, saying Apple did consider exactly that. Because the company and its lawyers did not correct Roman's testimony, 'Apple will be held to have adopted the lies and misrepresentations to this court,' the judge wrote. Gonzalez Rogers also found that Apple abused its use of attorney-client confidentiality in seeking to shield information from Epic and must pay the company's legal fees it spent fighting for documents. The case is Epic Games Inc. v. Apple Inc., 20-cv-05640, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland). ___ © 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Business Standard
01-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
US judge orders Apple to stop charging commissions on non-App Store sales
Apple Inc. violated a court order requiring it to open up the App Store to third-party payment options and must stop charging commissions on purchases outside its software marketplace, a federal judge said in a blistering ruling that referred the company to prosecutors for a possible criminal probe. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided Wednesday with Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. over its allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with an order she issued in 2021 after finding the company engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of California law. Gonzalez Rogers also referred the case to federal prosecutors to investigate whether Apple committed criminal contempt of court for flouting her 2021 ruling. The US attorney's office in San Francisco declined to comment. The changes the company must now make could put a sizable dent in the double-digit billions of dollars in revenue the App Store generates each year. Apple is potentially facing another multibillion-dollar hit from losing payments Google makes to be the default search engine for its Safari browser, which is the subject of an ongoing Justice Department antitrust case against the Alphabet Inc. unit. After several weeks of hearings last year and this year, Gonzalez Rogers concluded Wednesday that Apple 'willfully' violated her injunction. 'It did so with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers which would, by design and in effect, maintain a valued revenue stream; a revenue stream previously found to be anticompetitive,' she wrote in her 80-page ruling. 'That it thought this court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation.' 'We will comply with the court's order and we will appeal,' a company representative said. Epic Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney called the ruling a 'huge victory for developers,' saying in a phone call with journalists it 'forces apple to compete with other payment services rather than blocking them.' Following a trial in 2021, Gonzalez Rogers largely sided with Apple, saying that its App Store policies didn't violate federal antitrust law. However, she required the company to let developers bypass its in-app payment tool to avoid a commission of up to 30 per cent. The ruling was ultimately upheld by the US Supreme Court last year when it declined to hear appeals in the case. Apple allowed developers to point users to the web to complete transactions for in-app purchases, but required developers to pay the company a 27 per cent cut of whatever revenue they generated. In Wednesday's ruling, the judge said Apple tried to cover up its noncompliance with her 2021 order. 'After two sets of evidentiary hearings, the truth emerged,' Gonzalez Rogers wrote. 'Apple, despite knowing its obligations thereunder, thwarted the injunction's goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revenue stream.' 'He even went so far as to testify that Apple did not look at comparables to estimate the costs of alternative payment solutions that developers would need to procure to facilitate linked-out purchases,' Gonzalez Rogers wrote, saying Apple did consider exactly that. Because the company and its lawyers did not correct Roman's testimony, 'Apple will be held to have adopted the lies and misrepresentations to this court,' the judge wrote. Gonzalez Rogers also found that Apple abused its use of attorney-client confidentiality in seeking to shield information from Epic and must pay the company's legal fees it spent fighting for documents. The case is Epic Games Inc. v. Apple Inc., 20-cv-05640, US District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).
Los Angeles Times
01-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Apple must halt non-App Store sales commissions, judge says
Apple Inc. violated a court order requiring it to open up the App Store to third-party payment options and must stop charging commissions on purchases outside its software marketplace, a federal judge said in a blistering ruling that referred the company to prosecutors for a possible criminal probe. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sided Wednesday with Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. over its allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with an order she issued in 2021 after finding the company engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of California law. Gonzalez Rogers also referred the case to federal prosecutors to investigate whether Apple committed criminal contempt of court for flouting her 2021 ruling. The US attorney's office in San Francisco declined to comment. The changes the company must now make could put a sizable dent in the double-digit billions of dollars in revenue the App Store generates each year. Apple is potentially facing another multibillion-dollar hit from losing payments Google makes to be the default search engine for its Safari browser, which is the subject of an ongoing Justice Department antitrust case against the Alphabet Inc. unit. After several weeks of hearings last year and this year, Gonzalez Rogers concluded Wednesday that Apple 'willfully' violated her injunction. 'It did so with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers which would, by design and in effect, maintain a valued revenue stream; a revenue stream previously found to be anticompetitive,' she wrote in her 80-page ruling. 'That it thought this court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation.' Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Epic Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney called the ruling a 'huge victory for developers,' saying in a phone call with journalists it 'forces apple to compete with other payment services rather than blocking them.' Following a trial in 2021, Gonzalez Rogers largely sided with Apple, saying that its App Store policies didn't violate federal antitrust law. However, she required the company to let developers bypass its in-app payment tool to avoid a commission of up to 30%. The ruling was ultimately upheld by the US Supreme Court last year when it declined to hear appeals in the case. Apple allowed developers to point users to the web to complete transactions for in-app purchases, but required developers to pay the company a 27% cut of whatever revenue they generated. In Wednesday's ruling, the judge said Apple tried to cover up its noncompliance with her 2021 order. 'After two sets of evidentiary hearings, the truth emerged,' Gonzalez Rogers wrote. 'Apple, despite knowing its obligations thereunder, thwarted the injunction's goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revenue stream.' The judge said that Alex Roman, Apple's vice president of finance, lied on the witness stand. 'He even went so far as to testify that Apple did not look at comparables to estimate the costs of alternative payment solutions that developers would need to procure to facilitate linked-out purchases,' Gonzalez Rogers wrote, saying Apple did consider exactly that. Because the company and its lawyers did not correct Roman's testimony, 'Apple will be held to have adopted the lies and misrepresentations to this court,' the judge wrote. Gonzalez Rogers also found that Apple abused its use of attorney-client confidentiality in seeking to shield information from Epic and must pay the company's legal fees it spent fighting for documents. Sisco writes for Bloomberg
