Apple subpoenaed Valve in its fight against Epic Games

The Fortnite and Apple logos on phone screens
(Image credit: Shutterstock / adrianosiker.com)

A new court filing has revealed Apple subpoenaed Valve Software in November 2020 as part of its ongoing litigation with Epic Games

Epic wants data about Steam's commercial sales and operations because it "is a direct competitor to the Epic Game Store", but – unhappy with the request – Valve has thus far not fully cooperated and refuses to provide information Epic insists "does not raise risk of any competitive harm".

The subpoena – which was made public via a joint discovery letter – was issued in the hope Apple could gather information about how Steam operates to be used in the proceedings. However, while Apple and Valve "have met and conferred telephonically and exchanged correspondence in a good faith effort to resolve outstanding disputes", "the Parties have been unable to reach an agreement".

"Valve already produced documents regarding its revenue share, competition with Epic, Steam distribution contracts, and other documents," the company said, but believes the request to provide "six years’ worth of PC game and item sales for hundreds of third party video games, then produce a massive amount of confidential information about these games and Valve’s revenues" is unreasonable.

Epic Games launched its legal fight against Apple last year after its hit battle royale title, Fortnite, was removed from the iPhone’s App Store. Apple justified its action by alleging Epic broke its agreements with Apple after it allowed players to buy VBucks - in-game currency - through non-App Store channels, bypassing the need to give a cut of revenue to the tech giant.

This ban prevents 116 million of its 350 million player base from accessing updates to the game, so Epic has taken the fight to the US, Australian, UK and now European courts to see it lifted.

What's next for #FreeFortnite?

Confused? You're not alone. Luckily enough, we have a primer that details everything that's happened so far in the Apple vs Epic lawsuit.

The two giants will be meeting in US courts on May 3, 2021. This is somewhat earlier than anticipated, but still comes around nine months after Epic brought proceedings against Apple in August 2020.

The Australia, UK, and Europe-based trial haven't had their dates announced yet, though. Epic launched proceedings against the tech-giant in each region on November 2020, January 2021, and February 2021 respectively.

Given the time it took for the US court system to set a trial date, we can expect Epic's legal battles to continue through most of 2021, and potentially into 2022 as well.

Via PC Gamer.

Latest in Gaming
A green claw wraps around the carcass of a monster
Is Lagiacrus coming to Monster Hunter Wilds? Some fans are convinced, and here's why
The Witcher 4
You're probably not playing The Witcher 4 until 2027 at the earliest, per CD Projekt's latest financial update
Quick move in Civ 7.
Sid Meier's Civilization 7 update 1.1.1 is here and it finally adds a setting that I've wanted since day one
The RIG M2 Streamstar.
I wanted to love the new RIG M2 Streamstar, but this pricey gaming microphone fails to deliver
Hornet swings their weapon in mid air
Hollow Knight: Silksong gets new Steam metadata changes, convincing everyone and their mother that the game is finally releasing this year
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1 launches in early April, adding new monsters and some of the best-looking armor sets I need to add to my collection
Latest in News
A stylized depiction of a padlocked WiFi symbol sitting in the centre of an interlocking vault.
Broadcom warns of worrying security flaws affecting VMware tools
Microsoft Surface Laptop and Surface Pro devices on a table.
Hate Windows 11’s search? Microsoft is fixing it with AI, and that almost makes me want to buy a Copilot+ PC
Oura Ring 4
Activity tracking on Oura Ring is about to get a whole lot better, but I've got bad news about your step count
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2
Cleaned your Pixel Buds Pro 2 recently? If not, you might be getting worse sound
Google Maps on a phone being held in someone's hand
Google Maps is getting two key upgrades, for easier route planning and quicker access to Gemini AI
URL phishing
HaveIBeenPwned owner suffers phishing attack that stole his Mailchimp mailing list