Epic Games celebrates Fortnite win after judge blasts Apple for violating order
Calling for an investigation into possible criminal conduct, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered Apple to relax its App Store policies and adhere to her previous ruling in the company’s high-profile antitrust case with the Cary video game developer Epic Games.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers excoriated Apple for willfully violating her 2021 decision, which largely favored the iPhone maker but gave Epic Games a win by ruling Apple must allow app developers to direct users to external payment platforms, which could be free of the fees (up to 30%) Apple charges through its App Store. An appellate court upheld this order, which went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
In her order this week, Gonzalez Rogers said Apple ignored her decision by placing new barriers for app users seeking external payment systems and by charging a new 27% commission on such purchases.
“Apple’s response to the Injunction strains credulity,” she wrote.
New records, she said, contradict Apple’s court testimony and shows company executives knowingly went against the 2021 ruling to protect “a revenue stream worth billions.”
“To hide the truth, Vice-President of Finance, Alex Roman, outright lied under oath,” Gonzalez Rogers wrote. She asked the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California to investigate if this “cover-up” constituted criminal contempt.
“This is an injunction, not a negotiation,” Gonzalez Rogers said. “There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order.”
Apple has not responded to The News & Observer’s request for comment on this ruling.
The Apple-Epic Games antitrust case has now lasted close to five years. In August 2020, Epic started the fight by offering iPhone users a way to pay for Fortnite’s in-game currency, called V-bucks, through its own payment platform, thereby skirting Apple’s fees.
Following Wednesday’s order, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney wrote on X that Fortnite will return to the U.S. App Store next week. The colorful battle royale-style shooting game debuted in 2017 and quickly became one of the most-played series worldwide.
“Apple’s 15-30% junk fees are now just as dead here in the United States of America as they are in Europe under the Digital Markets Act,” Sweeney said. “Unlawful here, unlawful there.”
On Thursday, Epic Games announced a new payment processing fee structure. The company will charge no money for the first $1 million a developer makes each year from game sales in the Epic Games Store, and then a 12% charge beyond that.
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM.
