Apple has just had to give in

Apple has finally approved Epic Games' Fortnite game to return to the US App Store from May 21, ending a ban and a five-year legal battle.

Fortnite has officially returned to the App Store since May 21, ending a ban and a legal battle that has lasted for the past 5 years. Photo: Bloomberg .

After 5 years of absence, the game Fortnite officially returned to the App Store from May 21, ending the ban and the 5-year-long legal battle between Apple and publisher Epic Games.

Launched in 2017, Fortnite quickly became a phenomenon, attracting millions of players around the world with the "battle royale" genre, gamers will have to fight to become the last survivor. At the time of the ban, Epic Games owned up to 116 million users on Apple's platform alone.

Apple has yet to respond to Fortnite's return to the App Store. Meanwhile, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney immediately posted on social media platform X with the message "we're back".

According to Reuters , Apple's decision to return the game to its app store was largely influenced by a federal judge's finding that the company violated a previous antitrust ruling related to payment restrictions on the App Store.

"Apple has deliberately failed to comply with this court's injunction," Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said, accusing the iPhone maker of doing so with "the clear intent to create new anti-competitive barriers."

Previously, in the 2021 case, Judge Rogers largely ruled in favor of Apple, but required the company to allow developers to offer other payment options outside the App Store.

However, Apple responded by requiring these developers to still pay a 27% fee on out-of-app transactions and putting up other hurdles.

These actions “defeat the purpose of the injunction and continue Apple’s anti-competitive behavior simply to maintain its revenue stream,” Rogers said.

WSJ quoted analysts as saying that Judge Rogers' tough tone and evidence in his ruling could increase legal pressure on Apple internationally.

Source: https://znews.vn/apple-vua-phai-nhun-nhuong-post1554702.html