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A federal judge in California has determined that Apple has breached a court order aimed at fostering competition within its App Store.
This ruling, issued by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, will lead to a referral of Apple to federal prosecutors for potential criminal contempt.
In the ruling, Rogers stated that Apple did not adhere to her previous injunction, which was part of an antitrust lawsuit initiated by Epic Games, the creator of "Fortnite."
She stated: “Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated.
“This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregard.”
The judge referred the company and its vice president of finance, Alex Roman, to federal prosecutors due to their conduct in the case.
Roman's testimony regarding Apple's compliance efforts was described as "replete with misdirection and outright lies".
“We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal,” Apple was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Epic Games' CEO Tim Sweeney called the ruling a significant win for developers and consumers, indicating that Epic plans to bring Fortnite back to the Apple App Store next week.
Epic accused Apple of stifling competition and overcharging commissions for in-app purchases.
In 2021, Rogers found Apple in violation of California competition law and ordered the company to allow developers more freedom to direct users to other payment options.
However, the company's attempts to challenge the injunction were unsuccessful, as the US Supreme Court declined to strike it down last year.
In March 2024, Epic Games claimed that Apple was "blatantly" violating the court’s order by imposing a new 27% fee on app developers for purchases made outside the App Store.
Epic further alleged that the company had begun displaying warnings about the risks of external links to discourage non-Apple payments, labelling this new system as "commercially unusable."
Apple has denied any wrongdoing, asserting in a court filing that it has made "extensive efforts" to comply with the injunction.
Rogers has now prohibited the company from hindering developers' communication with users and has mandated that the company refrain from imposing its new commission on off-app purchases.
She stated: “The Court will not entertain a request for a stay given the repeated delays and severity of the conduct.”
In 2024, Epic Games launched a new mobile app store that rivals Apple’s App Store.