Apple says Epic’s Fortnite payment scheme “is theft, period.”

Enlarge / Apple says the example here, showing Fortnite's alternative payment scheme on iOS, amounts to "theft" by Epic Games. (credit: Kate Cox / Ars Technica)

Apple is going on the offensive in its continuing legal battles with Epic Games over the iOS version of Fortnite. In a wide-ranging motion filed Tuesday afternoon, Apple defended itself against Epic's legal charges while also accusing the Fortnite maker of breach of contract and outright theft in a countersuit.

"Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that simply wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store," Apple writes.

Who pays for what?

In its own legal filings, Epic in part seeks the right to provide what it calls "competitive payment processing on iOS" by going around the in-app purchase system built into the iOS App Store. Epic attempted to do this unilaterally last month by adding a discounted Epic Direct Payments option to the iOS version of Fortnite, a move that led Apple to bar Epic from the App Store entirely.

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