Judge Says Epic Games Was “Not Honest”

Epic Games and Apple have been battling in court over Epic’s move to cut Apple out of its share of in-game purchases from its incredibly popular game Fortnite. This week, a hearing on Epic’s request for an injunction against Apple removing its game from the App Store took place. During the hearing, the judge overseeing the case was highly critical of Epic’s actions leading up to the lawsuit.

Judge Rogers said that Epic was “not honest” when it published an update to Fortnite enabling users to bypass the Apple payment system. According to reports, the judge seemingly suggested that the actions Epic took helps to justify Apple’s defense of its App Store policies as an effort to protect users from malicious software.

Judge Rogers said, “You did something, you lied about it by omission, by not being forthcoming. That’s the security issue. That’s the security issue! There are a lot of people in the public who consider you guys heroes for what you guys did, but it’s still not honest.”

The judge also appeared dismissive of Epic’s argument that by forcing developers to use the Apple in-app payment system, it was an illegally “tying,” a form of bundling requiring customers who want to buy a specific product to purchase something else. Roger said that she doesn’t see in-out payments as “a separate and distinct product.” The judge also restricted Epic’s claims that Apple’s action caused harm.