Judge criticizes Epic's case against Apple, calls Epic dishonest

Epic's massive court battle against Apple is escalating, but it may not swing in the Fortnite-maker's favor.

In proceedings held two days ago, North District of California judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers criticized Epic Games' actions against Apple. Rogers says Epic's breach of contract by opening a second payment system on iOS was dishonest and not forthcoming.

"You did something, you lied about it by omission, by not being forthcoming. That's the security issue. That's the security issue! There are a lot of people in the public who consider you guys heroes for what you guys did, but it's still not honest," Judge Rogers said in court transcript documents acquired by CNN.

CNN also reports Judge Rogers didn't approve of Epic's strategy, which essentially was a staged coup against Apple. Epic's goal is arguably unrealistic: The company wants courts to force Apple to allow second payment systems on iOS, thereby removing Apple's 30% cut on all in-game revenues. Epic also wants its own Epic Games Store to be available on iOS.

Rogers plans to let a jury decide the outcome of the anti-trust case, and this may not happen until July 2021.

Apple previously stated it plans to keep Fortnite banned from iOS through 2021.

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