On Monday, the testimony-and-argument phase of the high-profile court case between Apple and Epic Games, regarding the way the latter company runs the App Store, came to an end with a series of impassioned back-and-forths. We must now await the judge's ruling.
In the past, most observers considered Apple to have the best chance of winning the battle, but after Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers raked Apple CEO Tim Cook over the coals on Friday, a compromise now appears the most likely outcome.
"What is the problem with allowing users to have choice, especially in a gaming context, to find a cheaper option for content?" she asked him. "If they wanted to go and get a cheaper Battle Pass or V-Bucks, and they don't know they've got that option, what is the problem with Apple giving them that option?"
A compromise ruling could mean it will be possible to buy items in iOS games like Fortnite directly from their makers, which in turn will mean Apple losing very significant sums of revenue.
But it's hard to know for sure until the judge makes her ruling, which could take several months, Protocol reports.
"Judge Gonzalez Rogers ended the session after a little more than three hours of courtroom debate, saying she anticipates a ruling to take a considerable amount of time but declining to give a firm date," the site writes.
"Her earlier deadline of 13 August, the anniversary of the Fortnite hot fix that kicked off the whole legal saga in the first place, was merely a joke. Let's hope it's sooner."
We hope so too.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation by David Price.
