Supreme Court Declines To Hear Apple, Epic Games' Appeals in Antitrust Dispute

The Supreme Court has rejected appeals filed by Apple and Epic Games in the two companies’ ongoing dispute.

The legal fight dates back to 2020 when Epic introduced its own payment system for in-game purchases in Fortnite. The move bypassed the commission – typically between 15% and 30% – that Apple makes on virtually all in-app purchases. As a result, Apple banned Epic from its App Store.

Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that its App Store and in-app payment policies violated antitrust laws.

In 2021, Epic was ordered to pay damages for violating its agreement with developers and Apple was ordered to allow apps to include links to outside payment systems and other information that steered users away from its own payment system. The company never implemented the required changes and simply delayed having to actually do so for years by appealing the ruling.

With the Supreme Court’s recent rejection to hear both Epic’s and Apple’s appeals, Fortnite won’t be allowed back onto the App Store anytime soon and Apple will likely continue delaying opening up the App Store and its offerings to outside payment systems.

“The court battle to open iOS to competing stores and payments is lost in the United States,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney wrote on X. “A sad outcome for all developers.”