Apple Wants $73.4 Million From Epic Games to Cover Its Legal Expenses

Apple wants Epic Games to pay $73.4 million in legal fees after Apple won the antitrust case brought against it by the North Carolinian games maker. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear separate requests from both Apple and ‌Epic Games‌ in their long-standing lawsuit against each other regarding App Store rules, effectively closing a case that has run since August 2020.

app store blue banner epic 1
In multiple rounds of the dispute, Apple has won on every count with the exception of just one regarding Apple's "anti-steering" rule, which the company promptly addressed on Tuesday. As a result of the Supreme Court's decision, the previous rulings stand and Apple is able to continue to disallow third-party payment processing within apps.

Now though, Apple has asked the court to allow it to bill Epic for its litigation expenses, which amount to a whopping $73,404,326. According to gamesfray's Florian Mueller, Apple came up with the number by totaling up the $82,971,401 in legal costs it spent on the case, and then adjusted that number down to $81,560,362. Apple then deducted 10% since Epic prevailed on 1 of 10 counts (Apple's anti-steering rule).

Apple bases the claim on Epic's original violation of its developer agreement, when out of the blue its Fortnite game offered an in-app payment alternative on the ‌App Store‌. Epic previously accepted that it would owe damages if it lost its antitrust claims against Apple. Now that it has, Apple has issued the bill.


For its Notice of Motion, the court has set a date of March 5, 2024 to hear Apple's claim about the fees owed, "plus additional amounts Apple is incurring during this ongoing litigation, under the indemnification provision of the Developer Program License Agreement."

Popular Stories

ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Apple Foldable Thumb

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Friday October 31, 2025 8:52 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about Apple's foldable iPhone so far. Ove...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...
iOS 26

Apple This November: iOS 26.2 Beta, Rumored New Products, and More

Thursday October 30, 2025 12:42 pm PDT by
Tomorrow is Halloween, and then November is upon us. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple next month, as the slower holiday season approaches. Apple is expected to kick off November by releasing iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1. With beta testing now wrapped up, the updates will likely be released this Monday, November 3 or Tuesday,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Apple CEO Tim Cook Says Revamped Siri on Track to Launch Next Year

Thursday October 30, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Apple CEO Tim Cook today said that a more personalized version of Siri remains on track to launch at some point next year, with the new set of features expected to debut on the iPhone as part of iOS 26.4 in March or April. "We're also excited for a more personalized Siri," said Cook, on Apple's earnings call for the third quarter of the 2025 calendar year. "We're making good progress on it,...

Top Rated Comments

mixy Avatar
24 months ago
Tim Apple actually pulled off a "We will build a wall(ed garden) and have [S]Mexico[/S] Epic pay for it!" ?
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Armada2 Avatar
24 months ago
Wow Apple giving a discount! TAKE IT!! ??
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Remy149 Avatar
24 months ago

If I was Epic I would basically cut my losses, pay the bill, remove ALL Epic apps from Apple app store and only make them available on Google's play store and put notices on Epic's website stating that if people want to play the mobile version of their games they are going to have to purchase an android phone. Gamers will move over to android because they need their gaming 'fix'. Yes Epic will lose out in the short term but gradually mobile gamers will move from Apple to android so they could continue to play their favorite mobile games.

If Epic were to do this, Apple would be the one to lose out big time because they get a big chunk of money from Epic's users. Yes Epic would lose money too but it would hurt Apple more if Epic stopped providing all their games on the app store.
They are in a lawsuit with Google also that is still ongoing. Fortnight isn’t in the play store or the iOS App Store anymore
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0339327 Avatar
24 months ago

If I was Epic I would basically cut my losses, pay the bill, remove ALL Epic apps from Apple app store and only make them available on Google's play store and put notices on Epic's website stating that if people want to play the mobile version of their games they are going to have to purchase an android phone. Gamers will move over to android because they need their gaming 'fix'. Yes Epic will lose out in the short term but gradually mobile gamers will move from Apple to android so they could continue to play their favorite mobile games.

If Epic were to do this, Apple would be the one to lose out big time because they get a big chunk of money from Epic's users. Yes Epic would lose money too but it would hurt Apple more if Epic stopped providing all their games on the app store.
Recent history has shown otherwise.

iPhone users are very reluctant to switch to Android and while gaming brings in big bucks, Apple will do just fine.

No, the best thing Epic can do is remove Tim Sweeney and make a deal to joint advertise with Apple and get themselves back to making money.

Edit: Yes, Tim Sweeney owns a majority stake, but when you mess up and loose billions in revenue and hundreds of millions in legal fees (for both sides), maybe it’s time, with some encouragement, to step down.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
laptech Avatar
24 months ago
If I was Epic I would basically cut my losses, pay the bill, remove ALL Epic apps from Apple app store and only make them available on Google's play store and put notices on Epic's website stating that if people want to play the mobile version of their games they are going to have to purchase an android phone. Gamers will move over to android because they need their gaming 'fix'. Yes Epic will lose out in the short term but gradually mobile gamers will move from Apple to android so they could continue to play their favorite mobile games.

If Epic were to do this, Apple would be the one to lose out big time because they get a big chunk of money from Epic's users. Yes Epic would lose money too but it would hurt Apple more if Epic stopped providing all their games on the app store.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coredev Avatar
24 months ago

If Epic were to do this, Apple would be the one to lose out big time because they get a big chunk of money from Epic's users. Yes Epic would lose money too but it would hurt Apple more if Epic stopped providing all their games on the app store.
By your logic, Apple is making more money from Epic's games than Epic itself is making.
I doubt that.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)