In an attempt to “micromanage Apple‘s business operations in a way that would increase Epic’s profitability,” Apple is arguing in a new filing obtained by Reuters that Epic Games’ motion to have a California judge hold the company in contempt for allegedly violating a 2021 injunction regarding its App Store practices was filed last month.
In order to avoid costs of up to 30 percent on App Store and in-app sales, Apple was obligated by the original injunction issued by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to let developers to offer an option for external payment methods. In January, Apple updated its App Store policies, allowing developers to link to outside websites for alternatives to make purchases. However, the new policies also mandate that developers obtain Apple’s consent before doing so and charge a commission of 12–27 percent for these transactions. Epic claimed that this renders other payment methods “commercially unusable.”
Epic also said at the time that Apple’s “so-called compliance is a sham,” and accused the company of violating the injunction with its recent moves. Apple maintains that it has acted in compliance with the injunction, stating in the new filing, “The purpose of the Injunction is to make information regarding alternative purchase options more readily available, not to dictate the commercial terms on which Apple provides access to its platform, tools and technologies, and userbase.”
