APPLE will have to face Epic Games in court today over the ban of Fortnite from the App Store.
The tech giant removed Fortnite from its App Store last year for breaking payment rules.
Fortnite developer Epic Games is taking a stance against the 30% cut Apple takes of the money earned by apps on the App Store.
In August 2020, Epic Games tried to dodge this fee and got Fortnite banned from Apple’s platform.
It then handed Apple a 65 page lawsuit.
Both firms are now embroiled in a legal dispute over the ban.
The trial could have huge significance for other app and games developers that think Apple takes too much commission.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will be giving testimony for the first time ever at a trial.
Epic Games is fighting against what it calls an “Apple tax” but Apple is saying its 30% cut is fair and needed to keep apps on the App Store.
The tech giant is thought to have made hundreds of millions of dollars from Fortnite being on its platform so both Epic Games and Apple are currently losing out on money.
The court case is taking place in Oakland near San Francisco.
Epic Games is also suing Google for similar reasons so the Apple court case could affect future court cases too.
Apple and rival tech giant Google have come under fire in recent years for operating alleged “monopolies” in which they stifle competition and take colossal cuts on sales made through their app stores.
“Apple has become what it once railed against: The behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation,” Epic said in its lawsuit against Apple, filed in the Northern District of California.
“Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear.”
