Apple has struck back, filing a countersuit against Epic Games in the US District Court, Northern District of California Oakland Division.
In the filing, Apple lays out its perspective of the legal drama, which has surrounded the two companies over the last month or so. It does so in language one would expect from a nation which recently got hit by an unexpected airstrike rather than a corporation, while at the same time calling the case “nothing more than a basic disagreement over money.”
Apple indicated that Epic, through CEO Tim Sweeney, asked for a “side letter” to be exempted from the contract which was in place and that Apple declined to grant that letter. In response, Epic launched what Apple characterizes as a “sneak assault” on the App Store through a hotfix that bypassed the review processes of the App Store. After a point-by-point refutation of Epic’s complaints in the original suit filing, Apple sums up its filing:
Neither Mr Sweeney’s self-righteous (and self-interested) demands nor the scale of Epic’s business can justify Epic’s deliberate contractual breaches, its tortious conduct, or its unfair business practices. This Court should hold Epic to its contractual promises, award Apple compensatory and punitive damages, and enjoin Epic from engaging in further unfair business practices.
Food For Thought
The language of this countersuit is unusual on several levels. It reads more like a head of state declaring war on the Empire of Japan or terrorism than a dollars-and-cents breakdown of a business dispute. Worse, while a lot of the points Apple refutes in its filing boil down to saying “Nuh-uh!” it’s curious that some of those points Apple is both pleading ignorance of and simultaneously denying at the same time.
It’s also deeply troubling that they seem to be bringing up non-sequiturs such as the stake Tencent has in Epic, which suggests Apple might try to argue “What’s good for Apple is good for America” when the lawyers finally face off in front of the judge.
