Xbox’s mobile aspirations may finally come to fruition as a U.S. judge just banned Apple from restricting developers’ payment systems on iOS

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Oh boy, it hasn’t been a fun few months for our old pals Apple.

Despite maintaining its position as the largest company globally based on market capitalization, Apple is currently grappling with the ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. administration under President Trump and China, which could potentially disrupt the pricing of its products. Moreover, a United States court has recently handed a significant setback to Apple’s strict iOS mobile market dominance, in a lawsuit led by Epic Games, creators of Fortnite.

Epic Games contends that Apple’s high fees and strict rules unfairly advantage the company, as it controls a significant portion of the U.S. market with its iPhone and iPad devices. Apple charges developers at least 30% for selling goods through their store, and if users purchase subscriptions or services online, Apple pursues the developers to collect these payments.

As a tech enthusiast, I’m excitedly following the latest developments in the Epic Games vs. Apple case, as reported by The Verge. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has firmly reprimanded Apple for intentionally disregarding a prior ruling, and has imposed additional limitations on them.

Based on the points outlined in this document, the court has determined that Apple has knowingly disregarded the 2021 Injunction issued by this court, aiming to restrict and lower competition. Such actions aimed at undermining competition will not be accepted. However, Apple has stated it intends to challenge this decision.

Epic Games plans to restore Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week. However, they have made a proposal for peace: If Apple agrees to expand the court’s conflict-free, tax-free framework globally, we will reintroduce Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and withdraw all current and future lawsuits related to this matter. [Tweet: https://t.co/bIRTePm0Tv | April 30, 2025]

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, expressed his delight about the news on Twitter, announcing that they plan to reintroduce Fortnite on iOS devices in the U.S. as soon as next week.

The decision mandates that Apple is barred from accepting payments for apps or games originating from sources outside of its own store. Additionally, Apple can no longer force app and game creators to guide users towards specific payment methods; however, they may provide a “neutral” instruction that the user will be redirected to a third-party site to complete their payment.

The decision is a significant victory for Apple app and game creators worldwide, as they now have the flexibility to choose less expensive third-party solutions outside Apple’s payment system, or opt to manage their own payments.

Due to Apple’s iOS restrictions, Microsoft has been unable to introduce Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Game Pass on mobile devices. This is because Apple requires each game available on iOS to be offered individually, rather than as a collective service like Xbox Game Pass, which offers multiple games in one package. Services such as Netflix circumvent this issue by listing their individual games separately, but this isn’t practical for a platform that might have thousands of listings.

Although this court decision doesn’t directly benefit Microsoft in the cloud gaming industry, it allows Microsoft to sell games directly to consumers using their own applications and services, thereby eliminating Apple as a middleman. This model is similar to how things operate on Windows, resulting in reduced costs for consumers because there’s no intermediary taking payments unnecessarily. For instance, Steam doesn’t require a payment fee on the Windows platform.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft for a response.

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2025-05-01 06:39