Apple accuses Epic of “Willful, brazen, and unlawful” conduct

 

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APPLE’S ANSWER AND COUNTERCLAIMS TO EPIC’S COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF Case No. 3:20-cv-05640-YGR

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT TO APPLE’S ANSWER AND COUNTERCLAIMS

Epic’s lawsuit is nothing more than a basic disagreement over money. Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that simply wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store. Epic’s demands for special treatment and cries of “retaliation” cannot be reconciled with its flagrant breach of contract and its own business practices, as it rakes in billions by taking commissions on game developers’ sales and charging consumers up to $99.99 for bundles of “V-Bucks.” For years, Epic took advantage of everything the App Store had to offer. It availed itself of the tools, technology, software, marketing opportunities, and customer reach that Apple provided so that it could bring games like

 Infinity Blade

and

 Fortnite

to Apple customers all over the world. It enjoyed the tremendous resources that Apple pours into its App Store to constantly innovate and create new opportunities for developers and experiences for customers, as well as to review and approve every app, keeping the App Store safe and secure for customers and developers alike. As a direct result of Apple’s investments, the App Store has grown into a diverse marketplace with a community of 27 million app developers worldwide, with about 1 billion customers across 175 countries. And, by all accounts, Epic has taken advantage of Apple’s support and services more than any other app developer for the past two years.

 Fortnite

 has only been in the App Store since 2018. But in that short time,

 Fortnite

 (i) has used more than 400 of Apple’s unique Application Programming Interface (API) frameworks and classes (such as Metal), as well as five different versions of Apple’s Software Development Kit (SDK); (ii) has been reviewed more than 200 times  by Apple’s app reviewers; and (iii) has pushed more than 140 unique updates to Apple’s customers. And each time Epic released a new season of

 Fortnite

, Apple put it in the spotlight, providing free  promotion and favorable tweets, ultimately sending over 500 million marketing communications to end users, and even paying for a billboard in Times Square to promote a particular

 Fortnite

 in-app concert. With Apple’s support, in the space of two short years,

 Fortnite

grew into an incredibly successful iOS app, enjoying nearly 130 million downloads in 174 countries—and earning Epic more than half a billion dollars. As recently as April 2020, Epic executives recognized and thanked Apple for its support and promotion of

 Fortnite

 events.

Case 4:20-cv-05640-YGR Document 66 Filed 09/08/20 Page 3 of 67

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