Apple Countersues Fortnite Developer Epic Games

Apple on Tuesday, September 8,  filed its response to a lawsuit from Epic Games and made counterclaims of its own, arguing that the Fortnite developer breached its contract with Apple and is violating California laws against unfair competition, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Apple is asking a judge to award punitive damages and restrict Epic from continuing what it describes as unfair business practices. The filing came after Epic sought an injunction on Friday to force Apple to put the popular videogame back in its App Store.

“Epic’s lawsuit is nothing more than a basic disagreement over money,” Apple said in its filing Tuesday. “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.”

The dispute began when Epic introduced the payment system on Aug. 13 within the “Fortnite” app that skirted the 30% fee that Apple and Alphabet Inc.’s Google charge for in-app purchases. Within hours, both companies removed the game from their app marketplaces for violating their rules. Epic later sued Apple and Google in California federal court, accusing both companies of anticompetitive conduct.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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