Apple’s actions to fight the injunction from its Epic Games App Store legal fight interfered with plans to launch the Xbox mobile web store, Microsoft has said.
The continuing legal drama between Apple and Epic Games over an anti-steering injunction harmed more than the two companies, it is alleged. According to an amicus brief supplied to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on May 20, Microsoft’s plans were impacted by Apple’s unwillingness to play ball.
The brief, first reported by The Verge, focuses on the injunction, which required Apple to allow developers to link out to external websites to handle payments. The injunction was intended to permit external transactions, but Apple’s implementation was far from what was intended by the court.
Apple’s rule changes, which mandated a 27% payment to replace the usual 30% for in-app purchases through the App Store, were deemed by the court to be insufficient. The April sanctioning by the court forced Apple into making more changes in spirit with the original injunction’s ruling, and eventually led to the return of Fortnite to the App Store.
Microsoft claims that Apple’s initial attempt at appeasing the injunction harmed its own plans. Microsoft apparently anted to open its own Xbox mobile web store in 2024, which it has wanted to do for quite some time, but that didn’t materialize because of Apple’s rules.
The injunction allowed Apple to “maintain its in-app exclusivity,” the brief states, but it should’ve at least allowed other companies like Microsoft to offer things like an online store for in-app items, via a link out. “But even this solution has been stymied by Apple,” Microsoft asserts.
Indeed, Apple’s initial rules change meant Microsoft was unable to set up linked-out payments, nor inform consumers about the alternative purchase methods, Microsoft believes. It imposed “an even higher economic cost to Microsoft than before the injunction,” it insists.
Fear of backsliding
The reason for the amicus brief is pretty much due to the potential for the situation to revert. Apple has appealed against the injunction and a stay against the changes, and there’s a chance that the current rules could be reverted if it succeeds.
As Apple “makes no argument that the technical or policy changes cannot be undone,” Microsoft insists to the court that the ruling be maintained until the appeal. It refers to its own experience operating app storefronts in knowing Apple’s policies are restorable.
Microsoft, therefore, is not keen on the idea of implementing its Xbox mobile web store if it has to undo the work shortly after.
