(Reuters) – The British antitrust tribunal ruled on Monday that Epic Games, the creator of the popular game Fortnite, would not be allowed to pursue its case against Apple Inc. in the UK over its App Store payment system and download control. of apps.
The two companies have been at loggerheads since August, when game maker Apple tried to avoid a 30% fee on the App Store by launching its own payment system in the app, leading to Apple’s subsequent ban on Fortnite. his shop.
The British tribunal has said that Epic’s lawsuit against Alphabet Inc’s Google could continue, but believes the United States will be a better forum for the case against Apple.
“Epic will reconsider its case against Apple in the UK after resolving the US case,” the video game company said in a statement in response to the tribunal’s ruling.
Apple and Google did not immediately respond to Reuters’ comments.
In October, a federal judge in California ruled that Apple may ban the Fortnite game from its App Store, but may not harm Epic’s development tool business, which includes the “Unreal Engine” software used by hundreds of other video games. word.
Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said earlier that Apple’s control over its platform has tipped the level playing field.
Reporting by Chavi Mehta, Ayanti Bera and Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Edited by Krishna Chandra Eluri