Apple Seeks Court-Ordered Settlement Talks With Epic Games Amid Ongoing App Store Battle

Apple has filed a motion in federal California court to settle its long-running legal battle with Epic Games. The tech giant is seeking court-supervised settlement talks, which would bring an end to years of litigation over app store policies and third-party payment systems.

The motion comes after Apple approached Epic's attorneys about settlement talks this week, but the company rejected the offer. Apple argues that it should still receive compensation for tools, technology, and services provided to developers under a proposed new fee structure.

In its proposal, Apple would charge a 15% commission on purchases from standard apps, 10% for apps in certain programs, and 5% for small business program apps. However, Epic quickly pushed back against the proposal, stating that these fees are 'far outside of the bounds' of court guidance.

In other news, Google is facing scrutiny over its implementation of a separate court order requiring it to open Google Play to competing app stores. During a recent court hearing, Epic demonstrated that Google was still placing several extra steps between users and third-party stores. The judge overseeing the case reprimanded Google, ordering them to address these issues within a week.