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Epic Games initially alleged that Apple had designed its external-payment rules to undermine a 2021 anti-steering injunction. On April 30, 2025, the court went further than the allegation: Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple had willfully violated the injunction.
The dispute concerns whether developers can tell iPhone and iPad users about cheaper or alternative ways to pay outside Apple’s in-app-payment system. It does not mean that every iOS app can freely process digital-goods payments inside the app without Apple involvement.
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What anti-steering rules mean
“Anti-steering” rules prevent developers from directing customers away from a platform’s payment system. Before the Epic case, Apple restricted developers from including buttons, links or other calls to action that told users where they could buy digital goods outside Apple’s in-app-payment system.
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The 2021 permanent injunction barred Apple from preventing developers from including buttons, external links and other calls to action directing customers to outside purchasing mechanisms.
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- Redeemable on accounts in the United States and in U.S. Dollars.
- Gift card must be redeemed at EpicGames.com/redeem. This gift card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly on a console device (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, etc.)
- If you play Fortnite experiences on a console device, you need to link your Epic Games account to your console account(s) so items purchased at Fortnite.com/item-shop appear across all of your linked accounts
- Requires internet connection, valid Epic account and prior acceptance of the terms
- Redemption: Online
That order was narrower than a blanket requirement to allow alternative payment processing inside an iOS app. It primarily addressed what developers could communicate and whether they could send users to an external checkout.
How the dispute began
- August 2020: Epic deliberately introduced an alternative payment option in Fortnite. Apple removed the app, leading to litigation.
- September 10, 2021: The district court issued the anti-steering injunction.
- April 2023: The Ninth Circuit largely affirmed the judgment, including the injunction.
- January 16, 2024: The injunction took effect after the Supreme Court declined to hear the parties’ appeals.
- March–April 2024: Epic sought enforcement, and the district court ordered an evidentiary hearing focused on Apple’s external-link program.
- March 7, 2025: Epic filed proposed findings arguing that Apple’s compliance system defeated the purpose of the injunction.
- April 30, 2025: The district court found Apple in contempt and held that its violation was willful.
- December 11, 2025: The Ninth Circuit issued an opinion addressing the enforcement dispute.
The 2024 hearing order identified Apple’s external-link entitlement program as an issue requiring further examination.
What Epic alleged in March 2025
Epic’s filing was an argument and proposed set of findings, not itself a court ruling. Epic claimed Apple had technically allowed external links while making them commercially unattractive or difficult to use.
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Epic objected to Apple’s proposed 27% commission on purchases made after users followed an external link. Epic argued that Apple could collect nearly as much as it did through in-app payment even though the purchase was processed outside Apple’s system.
The Ninth Circuit later described evidence that the 27% charge, combined with outside payment-processing costs of more than 3%, could make external checkout cost more than Apple’s own in-app-payment system. The 27% figure refers to the disputed U.S. external-link program; it is not a universal Apple commission for every developer or transaction.
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- Redeemable on accounts in the United States and in U.S. Dollars.
- Gift card must be redeemed at EpicGames.com/redeem. This gift card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly on a console device (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, etc.)
- If you play Fortnite experiences on a console device, you need to link your Epic Games account to your console account(s) so items purchased at Fortnite.com/item-shop appear across all of your linked accounts
- Requires internet connection, valid Epic account and prior acceptance of the terms
- Redemption: Online
Restrictions on links and calls to action
Epic said developers faced restrictions involving:
- where an external link could appear;
- its size, design and wording;
- whether it could look like a prominent button;
- how strongly the app could encourage users to purchase elsewhere;
- whether the link had to remain static rather than direct users to a specific product or logged-in checkout page;
- warning screens and other interstitial steps before the user reached the external checkout; and
- eligibility exclusions affecting some developer programs.
Epic also pointed to low participation in comparable alternative-payment programs in the Netherlands and South Korea, arguing that restrictive conditions discouraged developers from using them. These were Epic’s claims about Apple’s compliance design, not findings that had been established when the March filing was submitted.
Apple’s defense
Apple maintained that it was complying with the injunction. Its position was that a commission could compensate Apple for platform infrastructure, security, fraud prevention, discovery and related costs even when a user completed a purchase outside the app.
Apple also characterized warnings and some restrictions as consumer-protection and security measures. It disputed Epic’s interpretation of the injunction and objected to the way the district court evaluated its compliance plan.
The Ninth Circuit’s December 11, 2025 opinion is the key source for understanding Apple’s arguments and the appellate court’s response.
What the district court decided
The central development was the district court’s April 30, 2025 contempt ruling. The court found that Apple’s response to the injunction included a 27% charge on linked-out purchases, restrictions on link placement and design, friction in the purchase flow, limits on calls to action and exclusions from the link-entitlement system.
Rank #3
- Redeemable on accounts in the United States and in U.S. Dollars.
- Gift card must be redeemed at EpicGames.com/redeem. This gift card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly on a console device (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, etc.)
- If you play Fortnite experiences on a console device, you need to link your Epic Games account to your console account(s) so items purchased at Fortnite.com/item-shop appear across all of your linked accounts
- Requires internet connection, valid Epic account and prior acceptance of the terms
- Redemption: Online
The court concluded that Apple’s conduct was a willful violation rather than merely an imperfect technical implementation. The order barred Apple from charging commissions or fees on purchases made outside iOS apps and from restricting or interfering with consumers’ choices about whether to complete a purchase inside or outside the app. Apple’s later SEC filing describes the 2025 order in those terms.
The court also referred the issue of possible criminal contempt involving an Apple executive’s testimony to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for investigation. That referral must not be confused with a criminal conviction.
What the Ninth Circuit changed—and did not change
The Ninth Circuit upheld the central conclusions that Apple’s anti-steering restrictions violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and that the 27% external-link charge, combined with outside payment costs, could make linked-out purchases more expensive than Apple’s in-app-payment system.
This was not a ruling that Epic won every part of its broader case. The courts rejected Epic’s wider monopoly theories, and the original judgment did not categorically eliminate Apple’s ability to require in-app payment for digital goods. The precise scope of any remaining enforcement and Supreme Court-related proceedings depends on the operative orders and later docket activity.
In short, “Epic won against Apple” is too broad. The accurate statement is that Apple was found in contempt for violating the anti-steering injunction.
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- An Epic Games account is required to redeem an Epic Games Store Card code
- If playing on a console platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch or Mobile) you need to link your Epic Games account to that gaming platform (one time) to redeem your gift card code
- The 16 digit code on the back of the card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly through your gaming platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch, Mobile, etc.)
- Note: Nintendo devices do not support Fortnite Shared Wallet, so V-Bucks purchased using your account balance will not show up on your Nintendo device. However, if you purchase items in the web Item Shop — or another platform where you play Fortnite — those items will be available in your Locker across all platforms.
- Redemption: Online
What the ruling means for developers
For U.S. developers, the enforcement order strengthened the ability to include external purchasing links and meaningful calls to action, subject to the precise operative order and any later appellate modifications.
It does not automatically make external checkout the best financial choice. A developer must weigh:
- payment-processing fees;
- fraud, chargebacks and refunds;
- tax collection and compliance;
- subscription management and account synchronization;
- customer-support costs;
- lost conversions when users leave the app;
- engineering costs for maintaining web and in-app purchase flows; and
- any Apple commission that remains legally applicable to a particular transaction.
External transactions also create responsibilities that Apple’s in-app system may otherwise handle or support, including payment disputes, cancellations, tax documentation, entitlement reconciliation and customer service.
Developers must still comply with unrelated App Store Review Guidelines, privacy rules, consumer-protection laws and payment-provider requirements. Permission to show a link does not guarantee approval of every implementation, and the U.S. ruling should not be assumed to control rules in the European Union, South Korea, the Netherlands or other markets.
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Consumers may see more prominent choices between Apple’s in-app checkout and a developer’s web checkout. An external option could cost less in some cases if the developer passes on savings, but the result is not automatic.
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- An Epic Games account is required to redeem an Epic Games Store Card code
- If playing on a console platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch or Mobile) you need to link your Epic Games account to that gaming platform (one time) to redeem your gift card code
- The 16 digit code on the back of the card WILL NOT work if redeemed directly through your gaming platform (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, Nintendo Switch, Mobile, etc.)
- Note: Nintendo devices do not support Fortnite Shared Wallet, so V-Bucks purchased using your account balance will not show up on your Nintendo device. However, if you purchase items in the web Item Shop — or another platform where you play Fortnite — those items will be available in your Locker across all platforms.
- Redemption: Online
A web purchase may require a separate account or authentication, open a browser, delay synchronization with the app or use different refund and support policies. Parents, enterprise administrators and users with restricted browsers may also face additional barriers.
The financial lesson
The case is ultimately about who controls the payment relationship and how much of each digital sale is captured by the platform. A lower platform fee can benefit developers and potentially consumers, but moving checkout outside the app transfers more operational and financial risk to the developer.
For businesses, the relevant comparison is not simply “Apple fee versus zero fee.” It is the total cost of each route after payment processing, fraud, tax, support, conversion, engineering and compliance are included.
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Based on the later court decisions supplied for this article, the March 2025 allegation has been superseded by an adjudicated finding: the district court found Apple in willful contempt, and the Ninth Circuit upheld the core anti-steering conclusions in December 2025.
Apple continued pursuing further appellate and Supreme Court-related relief and related proceedings may remain active. The operative rules for a particular app, region or developer program should therefore be checked against the latest court docket and Apple’s current developer documentation rather than inferred from headlines.
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