Apple has attempted to bring games giant Valve into its legal dispute with Epic Games.
As detailed in a joint discovery letter brief, via PC Gamer, Apple has asked for information on
Valve’s revenues and games that are sold through Steam.
The iOS creator first requested the information in November 2020, insisting that the data could prove valuable in its legal fight against Epic Games, who has sued the company due to the removal of Fortnite from the App Store.
However, despite representatives for Apple and Valve meeting, on several occasions, the parties could not come to an agreement.
As such, they filed the document to seek a standing order from Judge Thomas S Hixson.
He said
Apple has insisted that the information it has asked for will offer valuable insight and data for its legal dispute. However, much of what it seeks is data on third-party games, which Valve is not privy to, as it belongs to the developers.
“As this Court recognized with respect to Samsung, this information is ‘relevant to showing the extent of competition’ among digital distribution platforms available to distribute Fortnite, including the Apple App Store,” said Apple.
“Apple has a substantial need for this information as it is uniquely obtainable from Valve. As the Court previously held, a party establishes substantial need where information is relevant and not reasonably obtainable elsewhere.
“Apple can only obtain information related to Valve’s app revenue, in-app purchases, and advertising from Valve itself.”
She said
Valve refuted that claim and insisted that it is not “a key figure” in the dispute between Apple and Epic Games. Moreover, there is already information out there regarding Valve’s revenues and its direct competition with the Epic Games Store.
“Somehow, in a dispute over mobile apps, a maker of PC games that does not compete in the mobile market or sell ‘apps’ is being portrayed as a key figure. It’s not.
“The extensive and highly confidential information Apple demands about a subset of the PC games available on Steam does not show the size or parameters of the relevant market and would be massively burdensome to pull together,” Valve said.
See you in Court
Apple and Epic have been at loggerheads since August. Fortnite’s removal from the App Store was in retaliation to the game getting a new payment option, one that would prevent the tech giant from taking its 30 per cent commission.
Since then, Epic has campaigned for fair competition on the App Store, insisting that the commission cut has never been the issue.
The pair are scheduled to appear in US courts this year, with a date set for May. However, Epic and Have have chosen to forgo a trial by jury, despite being advised not to by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
It would appear as the US was not big enough to contain the ongoing battle between the two behemoths, as the Fortnite creator has filed lawsuits in the UK and Australia too.
Most recently, Epic chose to take its fight against Apple to EU antitrust regulators.
