Apple offers 15% App Store fee, pushes for Epic settlement talks
Apple is making two significant moves at once in its long-running legal battle with Epic Games. The tech giant has proposed a new commission structure while also pushing for both sides to return to the negotiating table.
In a new court filing, Apple proposed capping commissions at 15% on purchases made through alternative payment systems in the US. The move follows a period during which Apple charged a 27% commission on those same transactions.
That earlier rate had already landed Apple in trouble. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled it violated a prior court order requiring Apple to let developers direct users toward outside payment options.
Epic Games wasted no time responding to the new proposal. The company argued the revised fees still fall far outside what the Ninth Circuit has indicated would be acceptable.
The timing of Apple’s filing is notable too. It landed the same day the Supreme Court rejected Apple’s request to pause lower-court proceedings while it separately reviews Gonzalez Rogers’ contempt finding against the company.
That rejection means the fee-setting process will continue moving forward in the district court. This holds true regardless of how the higher court eventually rules on the separate contempt issue.
Alongside the commission proposal, Apple filed a separate motion asking the court to order both companies into a settlement conference. The session would be overseen by Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero.
According to the filing, Apple had already proposed this meeting directly to Epic’s legal team on August 11. Epic, however, declined to agree to the arrangement at that time.
Despite Epic’s refusal, Apple maintains the court still has the authority to compel the conference. The company points to the fact that the Ninth Circuit itself had previously invited both parties to work toward an agreement on link-out commissions.
Apple believes a confidential meeting could help resolve the dispute without further extending the ongoing remand proceedings. Notably, the filing does not include any actual settlement terms, it simply requests a court order mandating the conference take place.
With both sides digging in on separate fronts, the long-running dispute between Apple and Epic shows no signs of reaching a resolution anytime soon.
