Apple vs Fortnite: Judge backed iPhone maker in a similar 2013 case

Apple Inc.’s showdown with Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. over app store fees has landed with a judge who gave the iPhone maker a big victory seven years ago in a case raising similar antitrust issues.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, took over the Epic case Wednesday from another judge. Back in 2013, she dismissed a lawsuit claiming Apple’s apps monopoly cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in overcharges. Plaintiffs requested a new judge after the U.S. Supreme Court revived the case in 2019, saying Rogers was too hostile to their legal position, but an appeals court denied their request.

Epic last week escalated a dispute over Apple’s longstanding insistence that games available on its app store must bill subscription fees and in-app-purchases through Apple, which charges a 30% fee. Epic began offering customers a way to directly buy items for Fortnite and circumvent the fees. Hours later, Apple pulled the app. Google followed suit later in the day, removing Fortnite from its Play app store. Epic then sued both companies.