Epic Appeals Result Of Court Case Versus Apple

We knew that there would be appeals regarding the Epic vs. Apple injunction handed down in a California court on Friday. What we didn't expect was that it would be Epic Games who would be challenging the judge's decision.

Epic is asking for a higher court to re-examine the case, which its CEO Tim Sweeney said on Twitter "isn't a win for developers or for consumers. Epic is fighting for fair competition among in-app payment methods and app stores for a billion consumers." In making that statement, he quoted Apple's response to the suit, which said, in part, that "the Court has affirmed what we've known all along: the App Store is not in violation of antitrust law."

He went on to say that "Fortnite will return to the iOS App Store when and where Epic can offer in-app payment in fair competition with Apple in-app payment, passing along the savings to consumers." Judge Gonzalez-Rogers ruled in the case that Fortnite did breach Apple's then-existing terms of service and Apple was within its rights to remove it from the App Store and is under no obligation to restore the game.

According to Epic's most recent filing, the company intends to appeal "the final judgment ... and all orders leading to or producing that judgment" -- which would include the "victory" it earned on Friday.

Tim Sweeney and Epic Games certainly have enough resources to continue this battle, though one has to wonder at this point if it's about money and more about proving a point. Many of the responses to Sweeney's Tweets seem to be from discontented former iOS Fortnite players, who just want their game back -- and more than a few who, upon hearing Sweeney's lastest statements, have decided it's not worth it and are moving on.

Granted, gamers who say "I'm done with this game forever" or the equivalent and actually stick to that ultimatum are rare, the most famous example of which can be found here. It's possible that, as with his overall approach to the Epic Games Store, Sweeney is playing the long game and hoping that whatever temporary downturn in player numbers will be made up for in the long-term health, and profit margins, of his company and the industry as a whole.