TL;DRThe US Supreme Court agreed to hear Apple’s appeal of the contempt finding in its App Store fee battle with Epic Games.
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear Apple’s appeal of the contempt finding in its long-running legal battle with Epic Games over App Store fees. The justices will review lower court decisions that found Apple willfully defied a 2021 order requiring it to let developers direct consumers to cheaper payment options outside the App Store. The case, Apple v Epic (No 25-1311), will be heard in the court’s next term beginning in October.
The dispute dates to 2020, when Epic sued Apple after its hit game Fortnite was removed from the App Store. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers largely sided with Apple on federal antitrust claims but found the company violated California law by preventing developers from steering users to alternative payment methods. She ordered Apple to allow those links, and the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court upheld that requirement.
Apple complied by allowing external payment links but imposed a 27 percent commission on revenue generated through them within seven days of a user clicking. Epic argued the new fee effectively nullified the court order. Rogers agreed, finding Apple in contempt in April 2025 and ordering the company to stop charging any commission on purchases made through external links.
