Apple seeks double retribution as it claims that Epic Games breached its contract with the company

The feud between Apple and Epic Games is still going on even after so many days, and recently, Apple has filed some counterclaims in response to Epic’s lawsuit against the tech giant. Apple has claimed that Epic Games must be held responsible for breaching the contract and violating the terms and conditions of the App Store, and it must return the money its famous video-game Fortnite collected via its payment system. Apple also demands the jury to put a permanent ban on Epic’s external payment mechanism in all of its apps, including Fortnite.

The whole story began with Epic Games introducing a direct payment method for in-app purchases and payments on Fortnite. This direct payment was a violation of Apple’s rule and it meant that Epic had found a way to avoid giving Apple’s 30% cut from its app’s revenue. Unsurprisingly, Apple did not like this at all and promptly removed Fortnite from its App Store, suspended the developer’s account of Epic Games, and gave them a deadline to remove the direct payment method within two weeks to return to the App Store.

Now, Epic Games seems to have deliberately instigated Apple by doing this, as then, like a pre-meditated action, they quickly filed a lawsuit against Apple.

Apple says that Epic’s lawsuit is nothing important and it is just a disagreement over money. Basically, Apple thinks that Epic Games just want to benefit from the space and opportunities that the App Store provides without paying anything in return- sort of like living in a posh apartment but not wanting to pay its rent! So, Apple says that Epic Games is not a modern Robin Hood, instead it is a very profitable enterprise that just stoops to cheap methods over money.

Apple also says that Epic Games has made around $600 million through Fortnite on the App Store. Time and again, Epic has thanked Apple for its support and promotion of Fortnite, and now, all of a sudden, Epic has a problem with Apple’s terms and conditions. Now suddenly Epic feels that Apple is suppressing free-market competition and has raised questions about the discounts that Apple gives to companies like Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, etc. and has doubted the integrity and equality of services that Apple provides to all companies.

Epic Games demands the court for a preliminary injunction to bring back Fortnite on the App Store and reinstate its developer account. A court hearing is scheduled somewhere by the end of September.



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