350% or 5BTC + 150 Spins!
New players only. Exclusive Welcome Bonus of 350% + 150 Free Spins
Apple has asked the US Supreme Court to review a new stage of the long Epic Games fight over App Store payment rules. The case began in 2020, but the latest filing now centers on outside payment links, developer rights, and how far one court order should reach.
Good to Know
Apple now wants the Supreme Court to cut back a lower court order that affects developers across the US App Store. The company argues Epic Games never filed a class action, so the remedy should not cover companies such as Microsoft or Spotify.
The Apple petition says:
“Epic never brought a class action and never attempted to show that enjoining Apple’s conduct against all other developers — like Microsoft or Spotify, who have nothing to do with Epic — was somehow necessary to provide relief to Epic,”
That point gives Apple a cleaner legal lane than another broad fight over app store economics. Rather than only defending App Store commissions, Apple says the lower court went too far by applying the injunction beyond Epic.
Still, the payment issue remains the core fight. Courts ordered Apple to let developers place links inside apps that send users to outside payment options. Apple allowed those links, but then charged a 27% fee on some external purchases.
The Ninth Circuit agreed with the lower court that Apple violated the order. Apple now says the injunction did not clearly ban commissions on outside payments, so civil contempt should not apply just because a judge later found that Apple violated the spirit of the order.
Epic sees the latest filing as delay. The company called it “one last Hail Mary to delay a conclusion to this case and avoid opening up the gates to payment competition for the benefit of consumers.”
The timing also helps explain why Fortnite is back in the App Store globally, except Australia. Epic believes the courts will not let Apple keep the same fee model for outside purchases. Apple, meanwhile, still wants a Supreme Court review before the case locks in broader App Store payment changes.
For developers, the outcome could affect app payment links, commission rules, and how much freedom publishers have to direct users away from Apple in-app purchases.