The ongoing Apple vs Epic Games saga just added a new chapter Tuesday with the iPhone-maker filing a countersuit against the Fortnite publisher, alleging that Epic violated its contract in a ‘wilful, brazen and unlawful’ manner’. The lawsuit further seeks unspecified damages for the alleged breach of contract and asks for the “restitution and disgorgement of all earnings, profits, compensation, benefits, and other ill-gotten gains obtained by Epic as a result of its conduct”.
In its filing with the District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple said: “Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that simply wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store … Epic’s demand for special treatment and cries of ‘retaliation’ cannot be reconciled with its flagrant breach of contract and its own business practices, as it takes in billions by taking commissions on game developers’ sales and charging consumers up to $99.99 for bundles of ‘V-Bucks”.
The lawsuit, which further noted that Epic Games has earned more than 600 million over the years through the App Store, is in reply to an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Fortnite publisher to get its money-spinner back on the App Store after it was removed for alleged breach of contract. Epic Games has also since filed a second lawsuit to get Fortnite reinstated on the App Store.
Apple had removed Fortnite from the App Store last month after Epic introduced its new in-game payment processing option to save the 30% commission that Apple charges for every transaction done through its platform. Apple has since terminated Epic’s developer accounts on Mac and iOS, and removed all its other games from the platform.
