In the United States, Apple was prohibited from charging a commission on sales made outside the App Store

A significant development in the years-long legal battle between Apple and Epic Games. An American court has ruled that Apple must immediately stop charging commissions on payments made outside its app store.

According to the published decision, the "apple" corporation is prohibited from:

▫️ charging any fees for purchases made by the customer outside the app (referring to the app downloaded from the App Store);

▫️ restricting developers on how they place links to purchases leading outside the app (in terms of design and placement);

▫️ blocking or restricting the use of buttons "and other calls to action";

▫️ influencing the user's decision to leave the app with anything other than a "neutral message informing them of the transition to an external site."

In simpler terms, a developer is now entitled to include an additional monetization option in an iOS game by having a separate screen promoting the purchase of an item on the game's webpage, for example, at a significant discount.

Moreover, Apple itself may face criminal charges. The presiding judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, accused the company of contempt of court.

Back in December 2021, the judge ordered Apple to allow developers to add links/buttons in apps to other payment methods.

Apple's attempt to circumvent this order led to the imposition of a commission on sales made outside the store, amounting to 27% of the payment (12% for participants in the Small Business Program).

According to Gonzalez, the corporation thereby ignored the court injunction. Thus, the case was referred to the U.S. Attorney for consideration of possible criminal prosecution.

Apple told our colleagues at The Verge that the company completely disagrees with the court's decision. It will comply with the court's order but will also file an appeal.

As for Epic Games, its head Tim Sweeney announced that Fortnite will appear in the U.S. App Store next week.

Let's recall that the nearly five-year standoff between the two giants began when Apple removed the game from the App Store for violating rules after Epic Games introduced a payment system allowing players to pay for in-game content directly.