Epic Games has notched a win in an ongoing legal dispute with Apple, as a result of which Fortnite could return to the U.S. iOS App Store as early as next week.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in a ruling on Wednesday that Apple was in “willful violation” of a 2021 injunction that prohibited the company from imposing anticompetitive pricing.
Apple won many of the arguments in the trial with Epic Games. One notable exception was a ruling prohibiting the iPhone maker from collecting fees on purchases made outside of apps. At the time, Apple was told to change its app store to allow developers to direct customers to their websites, where users could then make purchases.
Per the ruling, Apple not only failed to comply, it did so “willfully” and with the intent of creating new anticompetitive barriers.
“That it thought this Court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation. As always, the coverup made it worse. For this Court, there is no second bite at the apple,” Rogers said in the ruling. She went a step further and referred the case to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California to review it for possible criminal contempt proceedings.
An Apple spokesperson said the company would fight the court’s decision, saying “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.”
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney took to X to announce his company would bring Fortnite back to the U.S. App Store as soon as next week.
As The Verge reported, Sweeney also extended a proposal to Apple: “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,” he wrote.
The ruling was celebrated by other tech companies affected by Apple’s policy.
“This landmark court ruling is a victory for developers everywhere,” Spotify spokesperson Jeanne Moran said in an emailed statement. “Spotify will move quickly to submit an app update to Apple, enhancing the experience for our consumers across the United States.”
