Apple just took one of its most significant legal hits yet in the long-running fight with Epic Games—and the fallout could reshape how Web3 and crypto games operate on mobile.
After nearly five years of litigation, the Apple App Store court ruling Epic Games had been pursuing was finally enforced by a U.S. federal court. The decision prohibits Apple from blocking developers who use third-party payment options or charging extra fees for purchases made outside the App Store. It directly targets Apple’s attempt to impose a 27% cut on off-app purchases, which the court labeled anti-competitive and deliberately evasive.
Fortnite is now expected to return to the App Store in the U.S. as early as next week. And while Epic’s legal win is years in the making—and cost the company over $1 billion in legal fees and lost revenue—CEO Tim Sweeney says it was worth every penny.
A Win for Developers, a Lifeline for Crypto Games
While this verdict closes a major chapter in Epic’s antitrust fight, it may open a new one for mobile gaming’s next generation. For crypto-native games like Wagmi Defense, the implications are enormous.
“This means that we now can recoup a large hunk of that 30% fee that goes to Apple and put it right back in our pocket,” said WAGMI Games founder Scott Herman in a recent update. The studio had already begun building its own proprietary web shop using Stripe Connect and Coinbase Pay which launched on April 23rd, 2025, allowing players to bypass app store fees and purchase in-game currency directly using debit/credit cards or coinbase pay. Now, that workaround is fully protected under U.S. law.
With more decentralization, expanded payment options, and fewer platform fees siphoning revenue, there’s more money left in the hands of developers. That could mean better survivability for games themselves—and potentially better rewards for the players who power these ecosystems.
Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff “Jihoz” Zirlin called the decision a turning point: “No fees on web transactions. Game over for the Apple Tax. A huge win for Web3 gaming: Apple can no longer prohibit linking to outside payment methods. For too long, Web3 games competed with one hand tied behind their back.”
Even Congress has weighed in, criticizing Apple’s App Store guidelines for stifling blockchain innovation. In a 2023 letter to Tim Cook, lawmakers cited Axie Infinity as a key example—after working with Apple for years, the game launched a restricted version that stripped out core NFT features and still isn’t available in the U.S. The letter argued that Apple’s demand for a 30% cut of blockchain gas fees—a technical impossibility—was emblematic of rules that prioritize profit over progress. For Web3 studios, the latest Apple App Store court ruling Epic Games fought for offers not just financial relief but also validation that these constraints are being challenged at the highest levels.
What the Ruling Actually Does
The ruling blocks Apple from:
- Charging fees on purchases made outside the App Store.
- Threatening or scaring users with warnings when they leave the App Store to complete a transaction.
- Preventing developers from promoting alternative payment options within apps.
It also refers Apple’s VP of Finance, Alex Roman, to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible criminal contempt, after the court determined he lied under oath during the proceedings.
The case stemmed from Epic’s 2020 move to enable direct V-Bucks purchases in Fortnite, a deliberate violation of Apple’s terms that quickly got the game banned. The legal battle escalated with countersuits and high-profile statements about digital monopolies and developer freedom.
Although Apple won nine of ten counts in the initial ruling, it lost on the one that mattered most: control over in-app payments. And now, the Apple App Store court ruling Epic Games secured affirms that Apple cannot charge for purchases it doesn’t process.
Bigger Than Fortnite
Apple has already taken major losses in Europe, where it was fined over $500 million for deterring third-party payments. In the U.S., the Department of Justice launched its own antitrust case against Apple in 2024—one that echoes the very concerns Epic laid out in its initial filing.
For developers in the Web3 space, this ruling may mark a pivotal shift. Games that rely on real digital asset economies—and app distributions—have long struggled with the 30% platform fee, which cuts into not just studio revenue but player rewards, staking yields, and airdrop sustainability.
With this barrier now broken in the U.S., the door is wide open for blockchain games to reclaim distribution power while still reaching mainstream mobile users. The Apple App Store court ruling Epic Games achieved could represent the first real crack in Apple’s walled garden—and a win for developers across the mobile gaming ecosystem.
