Epic vs. Apple opening arguments suggest a bitter battle over iOS’ future

Enlarge / Artist’s conception of what Apple and Epic’s lawyers did to each other in the courtroom today. (credit: Epic Games)

In leading off the opening arguments in Epic’s long-anticipated bench trial against Apple, the Fortnite studio noted that it was “not suing for damages” or a “special deal.” Instead, Epic’s counsel said, it was “suing for change, not just for itself, but for all developers.”

While “Epic is far from the only unhappy Apple developer and distributor,” Epic’s lawyers said it just happened to be the one company that could “finally [say] enough to Apple’s monopolistic conduct” by “taking on the world’s largest company” in court over the matter.

Apple, meanwhile, used its opening arguments to characterize Epic’s lawsuit as “just an attack on Apple’s 30 percent commission that Epic does not want to pay” and Epic as a company that “has decided it doesn’t want to pay for Apple’s innovations anymore.”