A judge in the United States today banned Apple from preventing app developers from giving users the option to make payments outside the App Store ecosystem. The order is effective immediately and was issued as a result of the Epic Games lawsuit against Apple in 2020.
Apple is also not allowed to collect payments if users make payments outside the App Store, as is done in European Union (EU) countries. They are also no longer allowed to prevent developers from telling users there are alternative payment systems besides the App Store.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has already issued a statement that Fortnite will return to the App Store as early as next week. He also promised that Epic Games will drop current and future litigation if Apple follows the court's order.
Epic Games is suing Apple and Google after Fortnite was removed from the App Store and Play Store in 2021. The reason given by Apple and Google is that the purchase of V-Bucks that bypassed their payment ecosystem violated the terms and conditions of the app stores.
Just a few weeks ago, Apple was fined €500 million (RM 2.45 billion) by the European Commission (EC) for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple's action of charging €0.50 for each app install through third-party stores was found to be in violation of the DMA.