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Developers sue Apple over App Store fees

“This isn’t the first time we’ve taken Apple to task over anti-competitive behaviour”

Developers sue Apple over App Store fees

Apple is being sued by a number of iOS developers for the amount of commission and fees the firm demands for games to appear on the App Store.

Donald R. Cameron and Pure Sweat Basketball have raised the case so Apple’s practices can be examined and developers can be “rewarded fairly” for their creations.

To access the App Store, Apple requires an annual $99 developer fee while it also takes a 30 per cent cut of all purchases, which the duo believe violates California's unfair competition laws.

Hagens Berman, who is representing the developers, won a case against Apple in 2016 in which it claimed the company “colluded” with publishing companies on e-book price fixing.

“Blatantly abuses”

“Between Apple’s 30 per cent cut of all App Store sales, the annual fee of $99 and pricing mandates, Apple blatantly abuses its market power to the detriment of developers, who are forced to use the only platform available to them to sell their iOS app,” said Hagens Berman managing partner Steve Berman.

“In a competitive landscape, this simply would not happen. This isn’t the first time we’ve taken Apple to task over anti-competitive behaviour. We have successfully held Apple to the law in the past, and we intend to fight hard for the rights of iOS developers who bring their hard work and creativity to the iOS App Store with the hope of fairly monetising their creations.”

This case is somewhat similar to another ongoing case brought by four App Store users, claiming that Apple unlawfully monopolised the mobile market for iPhone apps.

As it becomes increasingly more challenging to reach the top of the mobile charts and make a profitable business in the space, we recently asked our Indie Mavens whether the 70/30 model split was still justified for what the platform holders provide


Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.