Latest news with #non-AppStore
Engadget
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Fortnite is finally back in the US App Store
Fortnite is back in the US App Store. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced that he intended to relaunch the game in late April, following a court order that demanded Apple stop collecting a 27 percent fee on app transactions that happen outside of its in-app purchase system. The company finally amending its rules to remove that additional commission is why Epic moved forward with the relaunch. The origins of this conflict can be traced all the way back to 2020, when Epic added its own method for collecting payments for in-game items in Fortnite and encouraged players to circumvent Apple's system. Fortnite was removed from the App Store (and the Google Play Store for that matter), Epic sued and the rest is history. Epic didn't win its entire case against Apple, but it did secure a permanent injunction allowing developers to include in-app text that makes users aware of payment options other than the App Store. According to the latest court order, Apple allowed that text, but was still demanding developers pay it a fee for those non-App Store transactions. That prompted the judge overseeing the companies' case to demand Apple stop and remove even more obstacles from the payment process. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Fortnite is BACK on the App Store in the U.S. on iPhones and iPads... and on the Epic Games Store and AltStore in the E.U! It'll show up in Search soon! Get Fortnite on the App Store in the U.S. ➡️ — Fortnite (@Fortnite) May 20, 2025 Fortnite has technically been available on Apple devices in other ways for a while now, whether its through the Epic Game Store in the European Union, or game streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce Now in the US. Returning to the App Store is a symbolic victory. The real prize are the court orders that came from Epic v. Apple. Assuming they survive Apple's appeal, they could dramatically reshape Apple's business and the way apps work on the iPhone. Companies like Spotify have already updated their apps to take advantage of Apple's rule change, and they likely won't be the last. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Engadget
09-05-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Epic launches a reward program to lure you away from the App Store
Now that Apple has to stop collecting fees on non-App Store purchases, Epic is pouncing with a new incentive. Starting today, you'll get 20 percent back in Epic Rewards when using the company's payment system for in-app purchases in Fortnite , Rocket League and Fall Guys . The offer isn't limited to the App Store, so you'll get the same 20 percent reward on PC, Android and the web. The reward balance will arrive 14 days after your purchase. You can redeem Epic Rewards inside the company's games or on the Epic Games Store. PC gamers who use Epic's Store also get 20 percent back on all purchases. However, unlike the in-app purchase program, that incentive only runs for a limited time. It expires on August 31. The rewards follow a legal ruling in Epic's favor. Last week, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, a federal district judge in Northern California, said Apple violated a previous ruling from 2021. That four-year-old injunction required the iPhone maker to let App Store developers direct users to alternative payment systems, bypassing Apple's 30 percent fees. However, after the 2021 ruling, Apple charged a 27 percent commission on external payments. (It was a lower 12 percent for iOS Small Business Program members.) The company also showed "scare screens," discouraging users from using third-party payment systems due to decreased privacy and security. The judge scolded Apple in her ruling, saying it knew what it was doing and "at every turn chose the most anticompetitive option." After the ruling, Epic quickly announced that Fortnite would return to the App Store. Epic said on Friday that it submitted the game for review on Apple's storefront.
Engadget
08-05-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Apple files emergency hold to challenge App Store payment injunction
Apple has filed an emergency motion, asking a federal appeals court to put a pause on orders that would significantly change how the App Store works. Those changes, the company argued in its motion, will cost the company "substantial sums annually" and are based on conduct that hasn't been "adjudicated to be (and is not) unlawful." It said those orders were made to punish Apple for "purported non-compliance" to previous orders. If you'll recall, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers recently ruled that Apple had violated her 2021 ruling on the lawsuit Epic Games filed against Apple. In her original decision, the judge told the company to allow developers to direct users to other payment systems that would let them bypass the 30 percent commission fee Apple collects. But Apple still collected up to a 27 percent cut for external purchases, and it also showed users a "scare screen" warning them that paying outside the App Store would mean they wouldn't have the company's protection. In her new ruling, Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple to stop collecting fees for external payments immediately. She also prohibited Apple from creating rules that would prevent developers from presenting customers with buttons and links for external payments. Apple changed its guidelines to remove prohibitions on buttons and external links that direct customers to non-App Store purchasing mechanisms. However, it also appealed Gonzalez Rogers' decision and is now asking the court to put a stay on those two particular orders while its appeal is ongoing. Apple insisted in its motion that it is unlawful to prevent the company from taking a cut on linked transactions, because the original decision didn't say anything about commissions or pricing. It also argued that it's unlawful to prevent the company from setting conditions for link placement and language as the original injunction didn't say anything about it. That provision violates the First Amendment, Apple said, by forcing it to "accommodate messages it would prefer to exclude." The company accused the court of punishing it because, in its view, Apple "flouted the court's order." "Without a stay, these extraordinary intrusions into Apple's business will cause grave irreparable harm. Depriving Apple of control over core features of the App Store is, standing alone, sufficient to warrant a stay," the company wrote. "The district court acknowledged that compliance will cost Apple 'hundreds of millions to billions' of dollars annually... which Apple can never recoup. Consumers would suffer from the destabilizing effects of the new injunction, while Epic would not be harmed by a stay." Epic Games called Apple's motion a "last ditch effort to block competition and extract massive junk fees at the expense of consumers and developers." In addition to the video game developer, other companies are also keen to offer external payments that would allow them to bypass Apple's commission. Spotify, for one, already submitted an update that would let users pay outside the App Store for customers in the US. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Apple's Motion to Stay is a last ditch effort to block competition and extract massive junk fees at the expense of consumers and developers. Since the contempt of court decision was issued by the District Court, Apple has faced a surge of genuine competition as developers have…
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fortnite Is Making Its Way Back to the Apple App Store
Fortnite has been in and out of the Apple App Store multiple times over the years as its parent company, Epic Games, and Apple battle it out over developer fees. But on Wednesday, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced that the legendary game was once again on its way back to the Apple App Store. "We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week," Sweeney wrote on X. "Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court's friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we'll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic." Read more: The 15 Best PC Games Right Now That litigation is exactly why Fortnite is making its return. Earlier Wednesday, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Apple's behavior toward web transactions was in bad faith and anticompetitive. Sweeney also posted about this on X shortly before the Fortnite announcement. "For the reasons set forth herein, the Court finds Apple in willful violation of this Court's 2021 Injunction which issued to restrain and prohibit Apple's anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing," court documents read. "Apple's continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated." In 2021, Epic Games and Apple went to court. Apple largely won that court battle, but didn't walk away unscathed. A federal judge also ordered Apple to remove its anti-steering barriers, meaning the company must allow apps downloaded from the App Store to steer customers to third-party means. From the archives: Apple Scores Legal Win Over Epic in Fortnite Lawsuit Apple appealed the decision later in 2021, with proceedings continuing through 2022 and into 2023. Apple eventually won the appeal. However, the court upheld its anti-steering ruling from 2021 in the process. When Epic took Apple back to court in 2025, the company pointed out that Apple hadn't complied with the original ruling in 2021. The judge agreed and is now forcing Apple to follow the rules to the letter. This includes not charging developers for non-App Store payment methods and allowing developers to tell people that such third-party options and platforms exist. The time frame is simple enough. Apple is to comply with these new rules immediately. Epic Games also has lawsuits against Google and Samsung, seeking to achieve the same result for users of Google Play.
