Latest news with #FreeFortnite
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Judge Orders Fortnite Back On iOS After Apple Exec Rages That "It's Our F****ING STORE"
A five-year court battle between tech titans Apple and Epic Games may finally be coming to a close. After months of explosive back-and-forth that went as high as the Supreme Court, Apple has reinstated Epic Games' landmark game, Fortnite, back onto its App Store. Fortnite — a free-to-play game which makes money from gamers spending cash on flashy cosmetics — began prompting users to bypass Apple's iOS payment system and pay Epic directly back in August, 2020. The move helped Epic get around Apple's 30 percent fee, a flat tax it charged all developers for selling on the App Store. Apple didn't like that, as Fortnite had over 116 million downloads through the App Store at the time. Apple argued Epic's payment portal violated the App Store's terms of service, and took the massively popular game off its platform. In response, Epic filed suit against Apple on antitrust grounds, launching an admittedly corny "Free Fortnite" campaign, which nonetheless posed a serious question: does Apple have the right to restrict developers' access to the billions of devices that exclusively use the iOS App Store? It's a question that took years to answer, and more twists and turns than a viral Fortnite dance. Apple countersued Epic, seeking damages from Epic's terms of service violation. In September 2021, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued a split decision, ruling with Apple on nine of ten counts, but awarding Epic a crucial injunction ordering Apple to allow apps to link to external payment platforms. Notably, Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple wasn't a monopoly, but rather a duopoly alongside Google, which was engaged in a similar legal battle with Epic over the Google Play store. She likewise ordered Epic to pay Apple $3.6 million in damages. Unhappy with the decision, both companies appealed, eventually escalating the issue to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear either appeal. Forced to allow developers to bypass Apple Pay, the company begrudgingly complied, but with on caveat. Apple now required developers to fork over 27 percent of the revenue made this way within 7 days of each transaction — a tactic known as malicious compliance. That, of course, spawned another series of lawsuits in March 2024, as Epic vowed to continue the fight and prove that Apple was acting in bad faith. Though Apple put on a cooperative face as the next phase kicked off, it would later emerge that the company's execs withheld documents, delayed proceedings, misled the court, and lied under oath. On the final day of that trial, Epic introduced a series of messages between senior PR executives at Apple, showing the tech giant's frustration at having to follow the law. "How is this still going," wrote Apple corporate communications worker Hannah Smith during an earlier day of trial. "I have no idea. I am stunned," replied Marni Goldberg, Apple's director of public affairs, and former press secretary for Senator Joe Manchin. "It's our F****ING STORE," she roared in a message minutes later. "This is very much pissing me off." Now knowing exactly who she was dealing with, Judge Gonzalez Rogers issued her scathing ruling on April 30, 2025, finding Apple "in willful violation" of the court's earlier decisions. "In stark contrast to Apple's initial in-court testimony... documents reveal that Apple knew exactly what it was doing and at every turn chose the most anticompetitive option," Gonzalez Rogers wrote. "To hide the truth, Vice-President of Finance, Alex Roman, outright lied under oath," the judge found. Though Roman testified that Apple decided on the 27 percent fee in January 2024 — a split-second decision made after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal — other records prove the tech giant was plotting it as early as July 2023. The ruling found that the decision to ignore the injunction went as high as Apple CEO Tim Cook, who ignored advice to follow the court's decision, and instead went with his "finance team," which convinced him to go through with the 27 percent fee. As Gonzalez Rogers wrote: "Cook chose poorly." Somehow, that wasn't enough hot water. After the April 30 decision, Apple began quickly approving updates to apps linking to third-party payment platforms, according to antitrust journalist Matt Stoller. However, there was one exception: Epic's Fortnite, which Apple had "determined not to take action on the Fortnite app submission" until after all lingering legal appeals were done. Presumably at her wit's end, Gonzalez Rogers issued a brutal one-page order, demanding Apple either make amends with Epic, or else sacrifice an Apple executive to the full wrath of the law. "Obviously, Apple is fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing," the judge raged. "However, if the parties do not file a joint notice that this issue is resolved, and this Court's intervention is required, the Apple official who is personally responsible for ensuring compliance shall personally appear at the hearing." Within a day of that final order, Apple folded, and has officially allowed Fortnite back on the app store (it's now estimated that the five year legal battle cost Apple $1 billion in lost revenue and legal fees.) Though the appeals battle still rages with Google, this one's a major win for software developers, publishers, and phone gamers everywhere. More on Apple: Tim Cook Has a Strange Obsession
Digital Trends
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Fortnite is finally back on Apple's App Store … sort of
After being unceremoniously booted off Apple's App Store in 2020, Epic Games' Fortnite is finally back. Take note, though — it'll only show up on iPhones and iPads for searches made within the U.S., at least for now. Recommended Videos The return of Fortnite marks the end of a nearly five-year ban caused by Epic Games' implementation of a direct payment system that bypassed Apple's in-app purchase fees, an act that violated the tech giant's App Store rules. In a message posted on X on Tuesday, Epic Games' founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said: 'Thanks to everyone who supported the effort to open up mobile competition and #FreeFortnite from the very beginning.' Sweeney added: 'And thanks to all of the folks who initially sided with Apple then later came around to the winning side, supporting app developer rights and consumer rights.' Epic Games has been battling away in the courts to get the popular title back on the App Store. It scored a big win at the end of last month when a U.S. court ruling forced Apple to allow apps to include external payment links without charging commissions on those transactions. After Epic Games recently submitted Fortnite for inclusion in the U.S. App Store, Apple has finally approved it, though not before some additional legal issues and delays just last week. If you search for Fortnite on the App Store outside of the U.S., however, it still won't show up as Apple continues to fight in other regions. But in the European Union, for example, the game continues to be accessible via alternative platforms such as the Epic Games Store and AltStore. Fortnite was allowed back on the U.S. App Store after the recent court ruling found that Apple had violated a previous injunction in 2021 by continuing to restrict competition and prohibit alternative payment methods in its App Store. The judge ordered Apple to comply with the earlier order, forcing it to allow Fortnite's return and to permit external payment links in apps. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers made several scathing comments about Apple in her ruling last month, criticizing the tech behemoth for deliberately undermining her 2021 injunction, saying that Apple aimed to 'sustain a revenue stream worth billions in blatant violation of this court's injunction.' She even went so far as to refer an Apple executive to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation into their conduct in the case. The Fortnite saga was essentially a landmark battle over digital marketplace power, one that shone a light on the struggle between app developers and platform owners like Apple in areas of control, competition, and the right to offer alternative payment options outside walled-garden ecosystems.
Mint
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Fortnite is finally back on iPhones and iPads in US: Here's how to download
After a five-year absence, the online multiplayer game Fortnite is finally back on the US App Store, following a prolonged legal battle with Apple. Early on Wednesday, Fortnite announced that its app could now be downloaded from the Apple App Store on iPhones and iPads in the US. Furthermore, the game will be available to download from the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the European Union. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney while reacting to Fortnite making a comeback on US App Store wrote on X (formerly Twitter), 'Thanks to everyone who supported the effort to open up mobile competition and #FreeFortnite from the very beginning. And thanks to all of the folks who initially sided with Apple then later came around to the winning side, supporting app developer rights and consumer rights.' Fortnite made its way back to the App Store after US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told Apple to approve the app submission from Epic Games or face returning to court to explain the legal basis for not doing so. Notably, Gonzalez Rogers, in an 80-page ruling last week, stated that Apple cannot restrict developers from adding links or buttons directing users to make external payments and that the company cannot impose a fee or commission on these payments. Following the ruling, Apple updated its App Store guidelines, stating that, although it strongly disagrees with the court order, it will comply with it and also file an appeal. Since then, Apple has also approved an updated app from Spotify, the audio streaming giant, with external payment links for purchasing subscriptions. However, when Epic Games resubmitted the Fortnite app to the US App Store, Apple informed the company that it would not take any action on its application until after a court hears an appeal for a partial injunction on the new order. To download the Fortnite app on iPhones and iPads, users can simply head to the App Store and search for the popular game. However, given that Fortnite was only approved for the App Store a few hours ago, it may not be visible to all users just yet.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How a judge's scathing rebuke to Apple could change the app store
Apple Inc. suffered a major blow this week when a federal judge ruled that the iPhone maker violated a court order to stop charging commission fees for purchases made outside of its own marketplace. In a scathing rebuke, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers upped the stakes for Apple by referring the case to prosecutors for a possible criminal probe. The judge sided with "Fortnite" maker Epic Games, which alleged that the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant ran afoul of an order she issued in 2021 after finding the company engaged in anticompetitive behavior. The ruling could ultimately mean lower costs to Apple developers and consumers because app makers would have a way to circumvent Apple's up to 30% fee for in-app purchases by directing consumers to their goods and services with links to outside sites. "That [Apple] thought this court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation," the judge wrote in her Wednesday ruling. "As always, the cover-up made it worse. For this court, there is no second bite at the apple.' Read more: Apple may have just lost big at the Supreme Court Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2020, accusing the company of engaging in anticompetitive practices. The company's "Fortnite" makes money by letting players buy digital goods within the popular online multiplayer game. Epic wants to let users buy stuff outside the Apple system and avoid the company's fee, which developers call an "Apple tax." But Epic alleged that Apple blocked it from doing so. One of the wins Epic achieved was the court ordered Apple to let app developers put links in its apps so customers could make outside purchases and bypass the company's commission fee. But Apple defied the order, the court said. After the ruling, Apple limited the ways that developers could communicate with its customers about out-of-app purchases and used wording that discouraged users from clicking on those links, the ruling said. Apple would charge a commission fee for any goods or services purchased within seven days of a consumer clicking on a link that took them out of the app, the ruling said. Read more: Why Epic wants you fighting its #FreeFortnite war against Apple and Google Judge Gonzalez wrote that Apple made efforts to conceal documents that discussed these practices by abusing attorney-client privilege and using code names like "Project Michigan" in reference to the injunction or related topics, and that an Apple vice president of finance lied under oath. The court sanctioned Apple for the full cost of Epic's attorney's fees and referred it to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California for possible criminal contempt proceedings. Apple said it strongly disagreed with the decision and would comply with the court's order. "We're going to appeal," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said on a call with investors on Thursday. Read more: 'Nowhere to hide.' How Apple and others in Silicon Valley are bracing for Trump tariffs The court's ruling could have a significant impact on Apple's business. Not taking commissions from outside app purchases could reduce Apple's revenue by hundreds of millions or billions, the company estimated, according to the 80-page ruling. "It's very material to them, and so they're unwilling to give that up," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with advisory services firm Enderle Group. "Tim Cook has been focused like a laser on margins and bottom-line performance for the company, and given the tariffs, Apple is going to be struggling pretty hard to maintain margins and momentum." Apple is facing other headwinds, including an antitrust lawsuit and Trump's trade war with countries including China, where Apple makes the majority of its iPhones. The Trump administration said that tariffs on products such as smartphones could come soon. Cook told investors that the tariffs could add $900 million to Apple's costs in the current quarter. Read more: Apple and other tech stocks rebound after Trump offers more tariffs guidance Several companies that develop apps cheered the judge's ruling, saying it will save money and make life easier for consumers. Spotify, for example, said allowing outside purchases will simplify the process of buying audiobooks, which is an important new line of business for the Swedish audio streamer. Andy Yen, CEO of Proton, which offers encrypted email and VPN services, said his company will lower its prices as a result of the decision. "No Apple tax means we will lower prices for users by up to 30%," Yen wrote on X, later calling the ruling "one of the most effective way[s] to cut inflation in the US." Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney on Wednesday wrote on X that "Fortnite" will return to the U.S. App Store next week and possibly worldwide if Apple extends "the court's friction free, Apple tax-free framework" globally. "It's good for [developers] because it has the potential to allow them to pay less in terms of what they need to do," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at University of Richmond. "It frees it up and makes it cheaper." Read more: Tech billionaires Zuckerberg, Bezos and Altman help bankroll Trump's inauguration. What to know Apple said it will appeal the ruling. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California will be left to determine whether to bring a possible criminal contempt proceeding. The attorney's office did not return a request for comment. Analysts said that Apple's relationship with President Trump could play a role in whether Apple will face a criminal probe. Tech companies and their leaders have tried to build closer relationships with the Trump administration by making inaugural contributions or pledging to bring more manufacturing to the U.S. Apple's behavior so far in the matter "would suggest that this is going to be a long fought battle with appeals and the hope that President Trump will come to their defense and relieve them of this burden," Enderle said. Bloomberg contributed to this report. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Sign in to access your portfolio
