When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. US Judge rules Apple willfully violated and ignored court's 2021 decision Pradeep Viswanathan Neowin @pradeepviswav · Apr 30, 2025 21:14 EDT Back in 2021, Apple faced a setback in its court case against Epic when a judge ruled that Apple could not prevent developers from including buttons, external links, or other calls to action within their apps to direct customers to non-App Store purchasing mechanisms. Following the court ruling, Epic announced that Fortnite would return to the iOS App Store based on the new provisions Apple was expected to implement. Now in 2025, Apple still does not offer any practical way for developers, including Epic, to use external payment systems for their apps and games. Epic returned to court, claiming that Apple has not complied with the court's order. Today, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers ruled that Apple is willfully violating the Court’s 2021 injunction. Here's the exact wording from the ruling: Apple willfully chose not to comply with this Court’s Injunction. It did so with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers which would, by design and in effect, maintain a valued revenue stream; a revenue stream previously found to be anticompetitive. That it thought this Court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation. As always, the cover up made it worse. For this Court, there is no second bite at the apple. The judge also ruled that Alex Roman, Apple’s Vice President of Finance, lied under oath. The United States Attorney may decide whether to initiate a criminal prosecution against Apple and its Vice President of Finance. Accordingly, under Rule 42(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Court refers the issue to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, Patrick D. Robbins, or his designee(s), for investigation against Apple and Alex Roman, Apple’s Vice President of Finance specifically. The Court takes no position on whether a criminal prosecution is or is not warranted. The decision is entirely that of the United States Attorney. It will be for the executive branch to decide whether Apple should be deprived of the fruits of its violation, in addition to any penalty geared to deter future misconduct. Tim Sweeney, Epic Games founder and CEO, tweeted that Fortnite will be coming back to the US iOS App Store next week. He also offered a peace proposal for Apple if they extend the court's friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide. In return, Epic will bring Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic. NO FEES on web transactions. Game over for the Apple Tax. — Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) Apple’s 15-30% junk fees are now just as dead here in the United States of America as they are in Europe under the Digital Markets Act. Unlawful here, unlawful there. 4 years 4 months 17 days. https://t.co/RucrsX7Z4A pic.twitter.com/3kSYnt5pcIApril 30, 2025 This ruling marks a significant development in the ongoing battle between Apple and developers over App Store policies and commissions. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed