Introduction: In the past five years, the legal battle that pitted Epic Games against Google and Apple was probably the biggest in the tech world. This conflict was a long time in the making, but it was ultimately driven over the edge by the desire of Epic Games to have payment alternatives for its Fortnite game. These focused mainly on the ability of players to purchase in-game currency through alternative means on their mobile devices and not just through Google Play or the App Store. Both companies reacted to this Epic decision by taking down Fortnite and entering into prolonged litigation. However, now, after years of court hearings and billions of lost USD, Epic got its victory. With it, it also got the chance to host one of the biggest multiplayer games on Apple’s mobile marketplace. The same victory is not just important for this growing company and its metaverse plans but for other game developers as well, being that it cracked the wall of the previously nearly impenetrable ecosystems of Google and Apple.
Article: The middle of May 2025 marked a turning point in the history of the Apple App Store, the famous company’s mobile device marketplace. For more than five years, more precisely since April 2020, Epic Games Fortnite, one of the most played video games on the planet, has not been accessible on iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices. However, the US courts ended that period with a decision that Apple had to reinstate the Epic Games account and return the well-known battle royale shooter to their marketplace. At the heart of the prolonged legal battle was Apple’s practice of charging up to 30 percent for all in-app payments, including Fortnite V-Bucks. Now, the court decision states that the same practices violate antitrust rules in the country.
This decision was celebrated across the world by not only Epic Games but many other developers of mobile applications and video games. For years, it was widely known that big owners of mobile marketplaces – Google and Apple – are changing extraordinarily high fees on all in-app transactions. These fees cut deep into the profits of developers and publishers, but there was a sense that no one could really do business on mobile without these giants taking their cut. But, Epic Games, under its CEO and founder Tim Sweeney, decided to finally take on the pair of enormous companies. The first victory came against Google, but the second one that took down Apple in courts is much more important. Now, the same federal court ruling can pave the way to much better deals for countless companies, especially those from the gaming sphere. On the other hand, while the revenue of the marketplace operators will inevitably go down, their actual businesses are more than secure and profitable even in this setup.
V-Bucks Purchase Flashpoint
The core issue that began the court proceedings was based around the purchase of Fortnight in-game currency, known as V-Bucks. In 2020, Epic Games intentionally allowed its players to bypass the in-app store systems of Apple and Google. Instead, players could purchase V-Bucks directly from Epic Games and thus avoid the 30 percent commission fee. In response to that flashpoint event, these companies immediately pulled Fortnite from their stores and in a single day, the famous game was no longer accessible on Android and iOS devices. In response, Epic filed a lawsuit that was based on US antitrust rules. The gaming company accused both Google and Apple of monopolistic practices that control the means of payment and the distribution of revenue. The legal battle that ensued involved likely more than a billion USD in legal costs, but ultimately ended in a total Epic Games victory.
Apple’s Failure to Comply
Google was the first out of the two business entities to back down from the prolonged legal fight. In December 2023, a jury found that Epic Games was correct on all counts of the lawsuit. After that, Fortnite became available on Android devices worldwide, while the problem of V-Bucks purchases was also settled, allowing Epic gamers more purchasing options and lower fees. Apple, on the other hand, held out until April 30, 2025. On that date, a US federal judge ordered the company to offer a bigger array of in-app purchasing methods and payments. Initially, the company stalled. But, because of a threat of federal prosecutors opening an investigation due to criminal contempt, Apple finally yielded in May, allowing Fortnite back on its devices, under new and more gamer-friendly payment rules. Tim Sweeney celebrated this development immediately on social media, signaling to everyone that the legal fight is now finally over.
Hard-Fought Triumph
Epic Games risked a lot with their litigation. At the time when Apple pulled down its game, Apple hosted nearly 120 million users on its platform alone. Through the five years that Fortnite was missing on mobile devices, billions of USD in revenue was lost to Epic Games. At the same time, the competitive space around multiplayer shooters became only more intense and challenging. From games like Marvel Rivals which are already taking a big chunk of the multiplayer audience to upcoming titles including Valve’s Deadlock, Fortnite did not have either the time or luxury of being complacent. This means that Epic lost not only existing players but also millions of those who would have otherwise signed up to Fortnite in the meantime. However, it is now clear that Sweeney and the entire management team saw the action against Apple and Google as crucial for the future of the company. Through its hard-fought victory that ultimately cost countless billions, the company came through as a more profitable platform that is providing more options and taking less money from its players.
Opening the Door
The victory of Epic Games will now surely give ideas to other big companies in this industry. Organizations like Netflix or Spotify could raise the same issues with Apple and Google in courts, demanding better deals for their in-app payments. But, for the smaller companies, including game developers, the possibility of earning more from Android and iOS devices could be a lifeline in the current tough economic setup. While the issue of discoverability on all platforms remains the biggest hurdle for developers, Epic at least made sure that all game developers could now ask for more. Even trying to get a higher profit margin is much better than being forced to either use these marketplaces or leave them. So far, that dichotomy worked in the interest of the marketplace operators. But, in the light of the legal events that Epic Games triggered, there is no doubt that the same tide is very much turning.
Author: Ivica Milaric, game designer and assistant professor of game design at the Novi Sada Academy of Arts, Republic of Serbia