Recent testimony in the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Fortnite developer Epic Games has revealed that major app developers have not embraced Apple’s new outside payment options earlier this year, citing high fees and a lack of meaningful changes. The judge in the case criticized Apple’s new policies, saying, “I’m looking for data and it sounds like you all made lots of decisions without data.”
Bloomberg reports that in a multi-day hearing overseen by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, it was revealed that Apple’s recent changes to its App Store policies have failed to attract major app developers. The changes, introduced in January as a remedy for anti-competitive practices, allow third-party apps sold in the U.S. to include an outside link to a developer website for processing in-app purchases. However, out of an estimated 65,000 app developers offering in-app purchases, only 38 applications for outside links have been received by Apple.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 26: Fans attend day one of the Fortnite World Cup Finals at Arthur Ashe Stadium on July 26, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The primary reason for the low adoption rate is the 27 percent fee that Apple charges developers who wish to use the link entitlement program. When combined with payment processing fees, the total cost to developers exceeds the 30 percent that the App Store has traditionally taken for itself. This revelation drew harsh criticism from Judge Rogers, who questioned Apple’s decision-making process and the involvement of top executives, including CEO Tim Cook, in approving the 27 percent fee.
“You’re telling me a thousand people were involved and not one of them said maybe we should consider the cost to the developers?” the judge asked. “Not a single person raised that issue of the thousand that were involved?”
Epic Games, the developer of the popular game Fortnite, has been engaged in a court fight with Apple for nearly four years, arguing that the iPhone maker’s January revisions to the App Store’s rules do not constitute meaningful changes. Apple, on the other hand, maintains that it has delivered the remedy ordered by Judge Rogers three years ago following a trial between the two companies.
During the hearing, Yonatan Even, an attorney for Epic, questioned Apple’s vice president of finance, Alex Roman, about the lack of evidence supporting Apple’s claim that the App Store changes would lead to lower prices for app users. Even argued that app developers face additional costs related to alternative payment solutions, which Apple failed to analyze when asserting that its changes would benefit users.
Judge Rogers appeared to agree with Even’s assessment, stating, “I’m looking for data and it sounds like you all made lots of decisions without data.”
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.