Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple, Inc.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
559 F. Supp. 3d 898 (2021)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Apple, Inc. (defendant) controlled and monitored all software that came into contact with smartphones and other devices running on Apple’s iOS operating system. Epic Games, Inc. (Epic) (plaintiff) signed a developer product-licensing agreement with Apple, permitting Epic to release its games in Apple’s App Store. The parties’ agreement required Epic to pay Apple a 30 percent commission on all purchases made on Epic apps. When Epic’s game Fortnite began generating significant revenue, Epic sought to renegotiate the commission. Apple refused, and Epic breached its contract and sued Apple, claiming that Apple violated antitrust law with the operation of its App Store. Epic claimed that the relevant market for the court’s antitrust analysis comprised only Apple’s App Store and iOS operating system, of which, of course, Apple was in complete control. Apple claimed that the relevant market was all digital videogames. Evidence was presented that the growth in digital videogames had not resulted in a significant decline in revenue for nondigital videogames. Evidence also indicated that Apple had a 55 percent market share in the market for mobile digital videogames.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rogers, J.)
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