Epic Games’ economic expert testified that Apple restrains competition in its App Store in a closely watched antitrust battle between two tech giants. In his testimony, economist David Evans noted that Apple’s App Store profits are “vastly higher” than those of most online stores.
Customers leave an Apple store on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) The federal judge overseeing the antitrust fight between Apple and Epic Games had a lot of questions for economist David Evans, chairman of Global Economics Group and Epic’s main economic expert, who took the stand Monday to testify that Apple’s restrictions on developers are causing anticompetitive harm in the iOS app distribution market.
We re more than a third of a way into the long-awaited Epic vs Apple antitrust trial, but there s still no indication as to where the gavel may fall when the case comes to a close.
GamesIndustry.biz spoke to legal experts who specialise in this field to get more insight into what we have learned so far, how well each party is putting forward their argument, and what we might expect as the focus shifts from Epic to Apple.
The opening week has concentrated on Epic as the plaintiff putting forward its case. Apple has been allowed some cross-examination of witnesses, but it won t be until later this week that it steps up its defence.
Apple vs. Epic court battle: Xbox believed two major Nintendo Switch games were coming in 2020
By Bang Showbiz
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Xbox expected The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and Metroid Prime 4 to be released last year.
The brand s business boss Lori Wright has testified in the ongoing Apple vs. Epic court case, and a redacted internal Microsoft document was entered into evidence.
As reported by GameSpot, plenty of the information is old and outdated - such as using Project Scarlett instead of Xbox Series X - but of note is a slide called Worldwide High-Profile Competitive Console Exclusives .
Gaming console losses are a hot topic at Epic v Apple trial yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Xbox never generated profit for Microsoft, confirms top exec in Apple-Epic court case
During the Apple vs Epic trial, a top Microsoft executive confirmed that the company s Xbox business has always sold its gaming consoles at a loss.
Sarthak Dogra | May 11, 2021 | Updated 12:58 IST
Highlights
The company compensates for those losses through revenue generated from its app store.
The confirmation came in response to a series of questions put up by an Epic Games lawyer.
When two bigwigs of an industry take things to court, the fallout is bound to affect others. Case in point, as Apple vs Epic saga continues, revelations of several other companies are being made. Microsoft is the latest in line for its hailed gaming division Xbox.