Apple sued Valve in November as part of the ongoing lawsuit Fortnite developer Epic Games, and it requires Valve to provide extensive sales data for more than 400 games, according to a new submission (via PC player).
The move comes amid Apple’s ongoing battle over Epic’s efforts to avoid paying iOS App Store costs. Apple argues that Valve’s data is needed to calculate the market size of Epic’s ‘available distribution channels’, as Epic could theoretically offer its games via Steam, in addition to other digital markets. But the data is also very valuable for judging the games and apps market – a space in which Apple’s iOS App Store still competes with Valve’s Steam market.
Valve claims that Apple’s claims are extraordinary and disputes the order.
In one request, Apple appeals to Valve to acquire documents showing the company:
(a) total annual sales of programs and in-app products; (b) annual advertising revenue from Steam; (c) annual sales of external products attributable to Steam; (d) annual revenue from Steam; and (e) annual earnings (whether gross or net) from Steam.
Apple argues that this data is ‘crucial’ in determining the overall size of the Epic-available digital distribution channels. The courts have already asked Samsung to provide “almost identical” information, Apple said in the submission.
In addition, Apple also demands that Valve obtain documents showing:
(a) the name of each app on Steam; (b) the date the App was available on Steam; and (c) the price of the program and any in-app product available on Steam
Valve claims the requests are too broad. According to Valve’s statement in the submission, “Apple has provided Valve with a list of 436 video games available in the Epic Game Store and Steam, and (a) required Valve to release every version and digital version from 2015 to date. Identify. content or items for each of these games on Steam, then provide (b) complete information about them all. ”
The requested information includes dates offered for sale, price changes, gross revenue for ‘game version and items, set out individually’, and Valve’s revenue ‘associated with these versions, content and items.’
Valve claims that these claims will place an extraordinary burden on Valve to process, combine and combine large amounts of documents that Apple searches for, and that it does not retain this data as part of the ‘normal course of business’. . (The submission also notes that Apple has reduced its request for data from “all 30,000+ games on Steam in ten years” to “436 games in six years.”
Valve also claims that ‘much of what Apple is looking for is sales and pricing information for third-party games’, but that the company is taking a ‘shortcut’ by suing Valve instead of getting the information directly from third-party developers.
Epic lodged a formal antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission on Wednesday, arguing that Apple “did not only harm competition in the distribution and payment processes of apps.”