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Apple earns a lot from the Fortnite app on iPhones: Fortnite developer Epic Games considers the fees of up to 30 percent to be too high and wants to crack Apple's closed system
Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS
The eagerly awaited court case between "Fornite" maker Epic Games and Apple has begun with mutual allegations.
Epic attorney Katherine Forrest said at the start in Oakland that the computer company had created a closed system with its App Store to include the one billion iPhone users and developers.
Apple's lawyer Karen Dunn, however, said Epic wanted the government to restrict users' freedom of choice.
The procedure is scheduled for three weeks.
Among other things, Epic boss Tim Sweeney and his Apple CEO Tim Cook should testify.
Forrest compared the App Store to a "walled garden," an industry image for closed systems.
"The most common flower in this walled garden is the carnivorous plant," she said.
As an example of the barriers, Forrest referred to the iMessage service.
This means that Apple users can communicate with each other, but contact with owners of Android smartphones is limited.
For its part, Apple has stated that the rules of the App Store created a huge market in which users felt safe enough to buy apps from unknown developers.
Apple charges up to 30 percent when someone purchases an application or subscribes to the App Store.
Epic and Apple are arguing about the amount of the levy.
The dispute escalated when Epic integrated an alternative payment variant into a "Fortnite" game version in order to circumvent the fee levied on Apple and Google.
As a result, Apple removed the game from its app store.
Epic responded with several lawsuits.
la / reuters
