5 ms·

What's the actual theory of the case of how Apple are owed damages here? Obviously they're losing revenue from Fortnite but that would have happened if Epic ju

by mcintyre1994 6y ago

What's the actual theory of the case of how Apple are owed damages here? Obviously they're losing revenue from Fortnite but that would have happened if Epic just decided they don't like the rules and took the app down themselves instead of breaking them. I can't imagine Apple would be entitled to damages then and I can't see how they've lost more money than that. The other obvious thing is legal expenses, but you don't throw them in as damages during the case right? That'd be settled based on the result and depending on the jurisdiction. I guess I can see them getting a few hours of someone's wage for re-reviewing Fortnite after the changes and taking it down? I feel like I'm probably missing something, does anybody know the actual position Apple would argue for damages from here?

Traster 6y ago
There is a material difference between costing Apple revenue by doing something they're allowed to do and costing Apple revenue by breaching their agreement. They cost Apple revenue by circumventing the in-app purchase system and Apple will naturally want the lost revenue. My guess is they'll produce figures saying "We made 30% of X revenue from in-app purchases over Y time frame, this dropped to 30% of Z revenue after Epic breached our terms, so they owe us 30% of X-Z + punitive damages because they did this deliberately".
- invalidusernam3 6y ago
  But surely that position would only apply if Apple hadn't removed the game from the app store? If myself as an indie dev breaches the TOS and my app store account is suspended, surely Apple can't sue me for lost revenue because they opted to suspend my account? Imagine the precedent that would set: Apple could sue you for lost income if you break the store TOS causing your app to be removed. I think Apple would have had much more of an argument for lost revenue if they had kept the game on the store. It would be directly quantifiable, they could say "look, the game made x million and we received $0, we should have received $y".
  - Traster 6y ago
    Oh, I see where you're coming from. No, the way that Epic have been suspended is such that they can't put out any more updates, but people who already have the game installed still have it, the game doesn't get deleted from your phone, so people are still using it and still buying stuff direct from Epic.
    - invalidusernam3 6y ago
      Ah yeah that makes sense. In that case, Apple does have a pretty strong case here, will be interesting to see the result

Traster 6y ago

There is a material difference between costing Apple revenue by doing something they're allowed to do and costing Apple revenue by breaching their agreement. They cost Apple revenue by circumventing the in-app purchase system and Apple will naturally want the lost revenue. My guess is they'll produce figures saying "We made 30% of X revenue from in-app purchases over Y time frame, this dropped to 30% of Z revenue after Epic breached our terms, so they owe us 30% of X-Z + punitive damages because they did this deliberately".

invalidusernam3 6y ago
But surely that position would only apply if Apple hadn't removed the game from the app store? If myself as an indie dev breaches the TOS and my app store account is suspended, surely Apple can't sue me for lost revenue because they opted to suspend my account? Imagine the precedent that would set: Apple could sue you for lost income if you break the store TOS causing your app to be removed. I think Apple would have had much more of an argument for lost revenue if they had kept the game on the store. It would be directly quantifiable, they could say "look, the game made x million and we received $0, we should have received $y".
- Traster 6y ago
  Oh, I see where you're coming from. No, the way that Epic have been suspended is such that they can't put out any more updates, but people who already have the game installed still have it, the game doesn't get deleted from your phone, so people are still using it and still buying stuff direct from Epic.
  - invalidusernam3 6y ago
    Ah yeah that makes sense. In that case, Apple does have a pretty strong case here, will be interesting to see the result