Epic Games v. Apple: the fight for the future of the App Store

After months of preparation, Epic Games will finally take on Apple in court in a trial that could fundamentally change the makeup of the App Store. The fight dates back to August, when Epic added a direct payment mechanism to its hit battle royale game Fortnite in violation of Apple’s rules. The iPhone maker quickly removed the game from the App Store, and Epic responded shortly after with an antitrust lawsuit aiming to establish the App Store as a monopoly. The case will finally be brought to trial starting May 3rd.

The trial promises to deliver huge revelations about the inner workings of one of the biggest and most influential companies in the world, with testimony from Apple CEO Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, Phil Schiller, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, and more. We’ve already made some fascinating discoveries from documents published ahead of the trial, and there’s sure to be a lot more news ahead.

You can follow along with everything right here.

• New App Store details from Phil Schiller testimony.
• Tim Sweeney says his Epic lawsuits are all about freeing the youth:
• Apple’s homework is due Monday no matter what, says judge
• Why Epic’s lawsuit against Apple just won’t quit
• Only 38 of 65,000 developers have applied for Apple’s outside payment links.
• The judge in Epic v. Apple thinks Apple’s being shady about buttons and links
• Epic says Fortnite is returning to EU iPads.
• Apple and Epic are going back to court.
• Apple files its response to Epic’s latest court accusations.
• Epic asks judge to enforce the Apple App Store injunction
• Apple kills Epic’s iOS game store plans over App Store criticism
• Epic preps its challenge to Apple’s ‘bad-faith’ outside payments changes
• Apple thought it dealt with Epic v. Apple — has it really?
• Apple offers Epic “extremely generous” discount on $81,560,362 legal bill.
• Apple’s App Store policies now let US developers link to outside payments
• Supreme Court rejects Epic v. Apple antitrust case
• Apple also wants the Supreme Court to rule on its antitrust case vs. Epic Games.
• Epic Games asks the Supreme Court to hear its case against Apple’s App Store rules
• Supreme Court says Apple can keep its App Store payment rules for now
• Apple can delay App Store changes to file Supreme Court plea
• Apple is going to ask the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of the ruling in Epic Games v. Apple.
• Apple’s App Store can stay closed, but developers can link to outside payments, says appeals court
• Epic largely lost to Apple, but 35 states are now backing its fight in a higher court
• Epic pushes to overturn App Store ruling in opening appeal brief
• Epic v. Apple ruling put on hold after appeals court grants a stay
• Judge orders Apple to allow external payment options for App Store by December 9th, denying stay
• Apple is appealing the Epic Games ruling it originally called a ‘resounding victory’
• Apple won’t let Fortnite back on iOS until the Epic v. Apple verdict is final
• Tim Cook tells Apple employees he’s ‘looking forward to moving forward’ after Epic ruling
• What comes next for the App Store?
• A comprehensive breakdown of the Epic v. Apple ruling
• Apple and Epic both lost today
• Judge says Apple may be ‘stretching the truth’ on Mac malware concerns
• The Apple App Store: a brief history of major policy changes
• The future of the App Store depends on the difference between a ‘button’ and an ‘external link’
• Epic will appeal the Epic v. Apple decision
• Will Fortnite return to iOS? Probably not any time soon
• Epic v. Apple judge rules Fortnite’s Peely can appear naked in court
• Eight things Apple could do to prove it actually cares about App Store users
• Elon Musk calls Apple’s App Store fees a ‘de facto global tax on the Internet’
• A courtroom artist’s view of the Epic v. Apple trial
• Apple stayed on message while Epic filled out the record
• Tim Sweeney concludes Epic v. Apple trial by repping fried chicken
• Tim Cook’s Fortnite trial testimony was unexpectedly revealing
• Tim Cook faces harsh questions about the App Store from judge in Fortnite trial
• Apple wants users to trust iOS, but it doesn’t trust iOS users
• The level of Mac malware is not acceptable, says Apple’s Craig Federighi at Epic trial
• Apple asks court to rule iOS is not an ‘essential facility’
• At the Epic trial, Phil Schiller got away clean
• Apple’s Phil Schiller gives Epic iPhone testimony
• Apple wants you to know it chose not to take a cut of $400 billion in physical goods
• Apple said Roblox developers don’t make games, and now Roblox agrees
• Epic fights Apple in court by playing Candy Crush
• Apple needs to show iOS allows competition… while justifying locking it down
• Epic v. Apple keeps coming back to the gap between ignorance and inconvenience
• Epic and Apple are now fighting over a naked banana
• Apple is using Itch.io’s ‘offensive and sexualized’ games as a cudgel against Epic
• In Epic v Apple, everybody is losing at the game of defining games
• After Xbox testimony, Apple tells Microsoft to put up or shut up
• Epic needs to tarnish Apple’s App Store halo
• Why the bad iPhone web app experience keeps coming up in Epic v. Apple
• Internal emails reveal how badly Apple wanted to keep Netflix using in-app purchases
• Epic v. Apple turns into Windows v. Xbox
• Epic says there’s an App Store payment lockout — but Apple just sees friction
• Tim Sweeney emailed Tim Cook personally to call for open app sales after WWDC in 2015
• Epic pushed Xbox chief to open free multiplayer just ahead of Apple Fortnite battle
• I watched the Epic v. Apple trial on Discord
• Walmart’s unannounced cloud gaming service detailed in confidential Epic emails
• Apple exec suggested cutting App Store commission to 20 percent as early as 2011
• Epic spent at least $11.6 million on free games and gained 5 million new users in return
• Apple antitrust trial kicks off with Tim Sweeney’s metaverse dreams
• Fortnite made more than $9 billion in revenue in its first two years
• Here are Apple’s and Epic’s full slideshows arguing why they should win at trial
• Fortnite is planning skins for LeBron James and The Rock, documents show
• The Epic Games v. Apple trial kicks off with kids screaming ‘free Fortnite’
• Why Epic is burning its own cash to cook Apple
• Epic-backed expert says Apple’s app store profit is as high as 78 percent
• Microsoft’s app store changes crank up the Apple pressure
• Next week’s Fortnite trial could upend Apple’s App Store model — even if Epic loses
• Microsoft shakes up PC gaming by reducing Windows store cut to just 12 percent
• Here’s who Apple and Epic are calling to testify in next week’s trial
• Fortnite’s cash cow is PlayStation, not iOS, court documents reveal
• Fortnite isn’t on Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service because Epic won’t allow it
• Eddy Cue wanted to bring iMessage to Android in 2013
• Epic Games Store expands to carry Windows apps like Brave and Discord
• Three reasons why Epic Games can give away $17.5 billion worth of games for free
• Epic antitrust case versus Apple in Australia gets three-month stay
• Apple says iMessage on Android ‘will hurt us more than help us’
• Apple’s 20-year head of developer relations retires ahead of Epic App Store trial
• Apple and Epic’s top execs plan to testify live and in person this May in the Fortnite app store trial
• Epic expands app store fight even further with new legal claim against Google in Australia
• Apple lawyers are fighting for Steam sales data on hundreds of games
• Epic Games brings Apple fight to the EU with new antitrust complaint
• Apple won’t have to allow App Store alternatives on iOS after North Dakota bill fails
• Epic Games Store now offers Spotify, signaling app store ambitions beyond just games
• Apple’s biggest App Store critics are not impressed with its new fee cut for small developers
• PSA: Epic will honor V-Bucks trapped on Apple platforms
• Epic says Apple ‘has no rights to the fruits of Epic’s labor’ in latest filing
• Epic judge permanently restrains Apple from blocking Unreal Engine, but won’t force Fortnite
• Microsoft hits out at Apple with its new Windows app store policies
• Epic’s decision to bypass Apple’s App Store policies were dishonest, says US judge
• Fortnite: Save the World for Mac is shutting down because of Epic’s battle with Apple
• Apple accuses Epic of ‘starting a fire and pouring gasoline on it’ in new Fortnite filing
• Epic says ‘Sign In with Apple’ will keep working for Fortnite after all
• Epic Games accounts won’t be able to use Apple’s sign-in system as soon as September 11th
• Apple will seek damages from Epic Games for breach of App Store contract
• Read Epic’s new, full argument why a court should force Apple to reinstate Fortnite
• Why you can no longer install Fortnite on iOS
• Hope you didn’t delete Fortnite or Infinity Blade because Apple just terminated Epic’s dev account
• Fortnite on iOS already feels empty and dated
• Fortnite is splitting into two different games because of Epic and Apple’s fight
• Epic confirms Fortnite’s new season won’t be on iPhone, iPad, or Mac
• Why Epic can’t afford to lose the Unreal Engine in its legal fight with Apple
• Apple and Epic have to win over more than just a judge
• Epic judge will protect Unreal Engine — but not Fortnite
• ‘Developers are fleeing the Unreal Engine,’ Epic tells court
• Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in new motion
• Read the emails between Epic and Apple that led to Fortnite’s App Store ban
• Apple says Epic is ‘putting the entire App Store model at risk’
• Fortnite teases Marvel-themed season, but iPhone and iPad players could miss out
• Epic to host a #FreeFortnite tournament with anti-Apple prizes
• Epic used its playbook for Fortnite events against Apple and Google
• Apple fires back at Epic: ‘We won’t make an exception’
• Epic says Apple threatens ‘catastrophic’ response in two weeks if Fortnite doesn’t comply with rules
• Epic’s Fortnite standoff is putting Apple’s cash cow at risk
• Apple stumbled into a war with the gaming industry, and the future of iOS is at stake
• Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says Apple fight is about ‘basic freedoms of all consumers and developers’
• Apple has finally met its Fortnite match
• Fortnite vs Apple vs Google: a brief and very incomplete timeline
• Epic is suing Google over Fortnite’s removal from the Google Play Store
• Epic rallies Fortnite players against Apple with a warning that they’ll miss the next season
• Watch Epic’s Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite short mocking Apple right here
• Epic Games is suing Apple
• Epic will mock Apple’s most iconic ad as possible revenge for Fortnite’s App Store ban
• Apple just kicked Fortnite off the App Store
• Epic offers new direct payment in Fortnite on iOS and Android to get around app store fees
• Apple’s App Store fees are ‘highway robbery,’ says House antitrust committee chair
• Epic Games and Match Group join Spotify in protesting Apple’s App Store fees
• EU opens Apple antitrust investigations into App Store and Apple Pay practices
• Apple faces another EU antitrust complaint as App Store pressure grows
• Epic gives in to Google and releases Fortnite on the Play Store
• Why Amazon got out of the Apple App Store tax, and why other developers won’t
• Amazon Prime Video now allows in-app rentals and purchases on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV
• Google says it won’t grant Fortnite an exemption to the Play Store’s 30 percent cut
• Apple to be formally investigated over Spotify’s antitrust complaint, says report
• Epic’s PC game store is live now