Valve has been ordered to provide four years of sales data for more than 400 games available on Steam as part of the ongoing Epic Games Vs. Apple lawsuit.
Apple had previously asked Valve for six years about their sales data, any discounts, and when they would become available on Steam. They claim this information “Is crucial for calculating the overall size of the market for available digital Epics distribution channels, which this court already considers very relevant to this case. ”
Valve declined this request, as they did not keep such records, 99% of the more than 30,000 third-party games on Steam (including confidential data), and it would take a lot of man hours to compile without compensation. Valve also stated that they did not compete on mobile gaming, making comparisons to the Epic Games Store and App Store irrelevant to the case.
Apple has narrowed their request to 436 games available on both Steam and the Epic Games Store. This data would still (as of 2015) include all sales, price changes, gross revenues and all revenues related to any version of those games and any digital content or items. Valve also rejected this, stating that Apple had failed to provide evidence that they needed it for their cause.
Now, Law360 (via GamesIndustry.biz) reports that California magistrate judge Thomas S. Hixson has ordered Valve to produce the documents; but reduced to the previous four years instead of six. With the comment, he offered Valve a little consolation “Apple has salted the earth with subpoenas, so don’t worry, it’s not just you.”
As we previously reported, Epic Games announced that the price of V-Bucks, To provideThe in-game currency that can be bought with real money would be permanently 20% cheaper across all platforms. However, a new payment method was introduced on Android and iOS.
Rather than buying the V-Bucks from Google Play and the App Store respectively, Epic Games launched the ‘Epic Instant Payment’. “When You Choose to Use Epic Direct Payments,” the announcement explains, “You save up to 20% because Epic passes on the payment processing savings to you.”
This is because Apple and Google collect a 30% fee from all V-Bucks purchased on their respective platforms. As such, the 20% drop has not been applied to purchases made through them. Epic Games state that “If Apple or Google reduce their payment fees in the future, Epic will pass the savings on to you.”
Shortly after this announcement, Apple and Google were both removed Fortnite from the App Store and Google Play Stores for violation of their terms of service by Epic Games.
Epic Games took legal action against both, citing the monopoly on their stores on iOS and Android. Apple allegedly threatened to terminate all Epic Games developer accounts in the App Store and cut off development tools on iOS and Mac.
Epic Games may have expected action from Apple after parodying Apple’s own 1984 commercial; appeal to their fans to support them. The #FreeFortnite Cup was also announced.
Apple later accused Sweeney of asking for an exception to the App Store’s terms and conditions. Sweeney tweeted that Apple’s statement was misleading and presented screenshots of the alleged emails. Microsoft also filed a statement of support in favor of Epic Games.
At the end of August, Apple terminated Epic Games’ developer account in the App Store. This means that Epic Games can no longer submit new apps or updates to existing apps (such as the Infinity Blade spell).
Epic would successfully win a restraining order that month, denying that Apple would remove Unreal Engine-based games from the App Store (thereby harming developers who used the engine for their games). Epic Games later filed an injunction asking Apple to ban “take any negative action against Epic. “
In early September of this year, Apple issued a counter lawsuit against Epic Games. In it, they asked for compensation and damages, according to the actions of Epic Games “Little more than theft.” Both parties would later agree to a trial by a judge instead of a jury. That lawsuit is scheduled for May 3, 2021.
Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers issued a preliminary injunction in October. Apple did not have to restore Fortnite in the App Store, but they had a restraining order that prevented them from revoking the developer tools for “Epic affiliates;Like those who use the Unreal Engine for their game.
Judge Gonzales Rogers later dismissed two of Apple’s claims in a November 10 hearing, including their claim that Epic Games committed theft. She told Apple attorney Anna Casey “You cannot just say that it is independently illegal. You actually have to have facts. “
Sweeney was recently outraged because she took the Epic Games vs. Apple compared to the civil rights movement. Epic Games also reportedly hired a lobbyist to propose a bill in North Dakota that would allow alternative payment methods in the App Store and Google Play.
Statue: Ace lawyer Fandom wiki, Wikipedia [1, 2, 3]