Epic Games is asking the United States Supreme Court to uphold a recent ruling made by a lower court, hoping the highest court will unpause an injunction against Apple and force the company's hand with App Store payment systems.
Epic Games "1984" inspired anti-Apple ad
While the majority of legal decisions in the Epic Games vs. Apple lawsuit have gone in Apple's direction, there is one that didn't -- anti-steering rules in the digital storefront. Unsurprisingly, Apple petitioned the Supreme Court to review the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision.
As a result of that petition, Apple can technically delay any major changes to the App Store. By default, the company now has 90 days before it needs to make any changes, and it could get even longer if SCOTUS decides to hear the case.
Epic Games is not very happy with how this is going, according to a report from Reuters. The company, which develops the popular battle royale game Fortnite, has filed a request with the highest court in the nation to lift the lower court's decision.
SCOTUS has not moved on this particular case as of the time of publication, either granting Apple's appeal or responding to Epic's requests.
Epic's long fight against Apple
Apple's App Store commission has been a hot-button issue for a while now, especially for companies like Epic. Apple's anti-steering rules are designed to limit how third-party developers and companies can direct customers to in-app purchases and subscription payments outside the App Store.
Apple App Store
The original ruling regarding Apple's anti-steering rules was handed down in September 2021, directly related to Epic Games vs Apple. Both companies appealed those decisions, even though Apple won nine of the ten claims.
This all began in 2020 after Epic Games updated Fortnite to allow players to avoid Apple's payment system and pay Epic Games directly. Apple's rules don't allow companies to avoid the first-party payment system when paying through the App Store.
As a result, Apple pulled Fortnite from the App Store, letting Epic Games know if they updated the title again and removed the new payment system option, the game could return. Epic Games refused, filing a lawsuit against Apple the same day they updated the game.