Epic Games Demands Court to Reinstate 'Fortnite' on App Store Amid 'App Fee Dispute'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] Epic Games, which escalated to a lawsuit with Apple over application (app) fees, has once again requested the court to allow its game to be reinstated on the App Store. Epic Games also filed a lawsuit against Google, which removed its game from the app market following Apple’s removal.

According to the daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others, on the night of the 4th (local time), Epic Games filed a preliminary injunction with the U.S. District Court in California to allow its game, 'FORTNITE,' to be reinstated on the Apple App Store. Epic Games pointed out, "More than 116 million registered Fortnite users enjoy the game on devices operating with Apple’s iOS," and added, "Apple has driven a stake into the Fortnite gamer community."

This conflict was triggered last month when Epic Games opposed Apple’s App Store policy, which takes a hefty 30% app fee, by building its own payment system within the game that allows item purchases. In response, Apple removed Epic Games from the App Store for violating the App Store’s payment guidelines. Epic Games then filed lawsuits against the app market giants Apple and Google in succession, expanding the so-called '30% app toll' controversy into a legal battle.

So far, Apple has enforced an in-app payment method that charges a 30% fee on apps distributed through its App Store. This means that if a consumer pays 10,000 won for a game item, Apple takes 3,000 won. For the popular game Fortnite, monthly revenue from item sales alone is estimated to reach 34 million dollars. Market research firm Sensor Tower estimated that Fortnite’s revenue from the App Store and Google Play in July was about 52.5 million dollars. This is why even the U.S. House of Representatives has criticized the app fees as "robbery."

On the same day, Epic Games also filed a lawsuit against Google, which has also removed Fortnite from its app market, Google Play. Currently, Google charges a 30% fee for game apps. Like Apple, Google is also pushing to apply a 30% fee to all apps except games.

Previously, Epic Games requested the court to temporarily reinstate Fortnite on the Apple App Store but was rejected once. Apple drew a line, stating, "Epic Games has benefited from the App Store ecosystem tools, testing, and other services provided to all developers through the App Store for over ten years and has agreed to the App Store terms and guidelines itself."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.