Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games over the Fortnite game and App Store rules has expanded onto another continent, with the former launching a legal claim against the latter in Australia, reports AppleInsider.
Filed on Wednesday in the Federal Court of Australia, Epic alleges that Apple’s conduct with the App Store is a “misuse of market power” that has the effect of “substantially lessening competition” in the iOS app industry. According to Epic, Apple’s conduct breaches Australian Consumer Law as well as sections of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
This is all part of an ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic. On Aug. 13, Epic Games announced that it had introduced a new direct payment option in the Fortnite app for iPhone and iPad, allowing players to purchase 1000 V-Bucks for US$7.99 rather than $9.99 through Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism. Shortly thereafter, Apple removed the gamer from the App Store for violating store polices and followed up by shutting down the company’s developer account. Epic immediately filed a lawsuit against Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
In September Apple filed a countersuit to stop the game maker from using its own payment system for Fortnite. Apple also accused Epic of theft and sought extra monetary damages beyond breach of contract.
