With Apple and Epic Games delivering opening remarks before District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in a Northern California courtroom today, the bench trial between the two companies is now officially underway (via MacRumors).
Last year, Epic Games introduced a direct payment option in the app for its in-game currency, which led Apple to pull Fortnite from the App Store over bypassing Apple’s payment system. In response, Epic Games sued Apple for its “anti-competitive” actions and describing the App Store as a monopoly.
Apple then filed a countersuit, while stating that the App Store guidelines are applied equally to every developer and that Epic Games has benefitted from its ecosystem for more than 10 years.
Epic Games’ Opening Remarks
Epic Games lawyers argued that the App Store and iOS as a whole are a “walled garden” and said that developers would not be interested in using Apple’s in-app purchase system if it were optional. Epic Games lawyers then went through a series of emails from current and former Apple executives like Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, and Steve Jobs that they believe supports this “walled garden” argument.
Apple’s Opening Remarks
Apple lawyers argued that the App Store is curated, safe, reliable, and family friendly, and that the App Store ecosystem has served as an economic driver for over a decade, creating millions of jobs for developers.
Apple added that Epic’s requested relief would undo everything Apple and app developers have built and everything consumers “have trusted and loved.”
