Following the end of the Epic Games vs Apple case, the "Fortnite" developer will be required to pay Apple over $73 million in legal fees.
Still from the Epic Games parody of Apple's "1984" ad
The three-year legal battle between Epic Games and Apple fizzled out on January 16, 2024, as the Supreme Court simply declined to hear appeals from either side. With the case concluded, however, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has ruled that Epic Games owes Apple $73,404,326 in legal fees.
As spotted by GamesFray, that is actually a discount rate.
#Apple wants #EpicGames to reimburse $73 MILLION AND COUNTING (the dispute isn't over yet) in litigation expenses. Apple says it's spent $82,971,401 defending against that case, adjusts it to $81,560,362, then deducts 10% as Epic prevailed on 1 of 10 counts $73,404,326.
-- gamesfray (@games_fray) January 17, 2024
1/4 pic.twitter.com/0Qwa3yA6es
So Apple reports having spent $82,971,401 in legal fees, and for unclear reasons adjusts that to $81,560,362. The $73,404,326 figure is then a 10% discount for Epic having won 1 of its 10 counts.
That $73 million is not the final figure, though. The court's "Notice of Motion" has set a date of March 24, 2024, for a hearing regarding the fee, "plus additional amounts Apple is incurring during this ongoing litigation, under the indemnification provision of the Developer Program License Agreement."
As spotted by iMore, this indemnification stems from how Epic Games breached the developer agreement it had with Apple when it tried offering its own alternative payment system in August 2020.
That was the start of what Epic Games originally portrayed as a reaction to Apple removing "Fortnite" from the App Store, but then later admitted had instead been a long-planned campaign intended to force third-party stores on iOS.