Apple & Epic Request Bench Trial Rather Than Jury

I’ve not kept it secret: I’m not impartial on the Epic Games Vs. Apple Inc. case that arose in mid-August. Both of them can, as I often use as a turn of phrase, get right in the bin. Yes, I still do the weekly free games article about the Epic Games Store, as you are getting something out of that. Beyond that, Epic doesn’t bother me. Unlike (it seems) many people, I know when to pick a battle I should care about. From the offset, I think many of us found apathy as the core of this corporate catfight. Though it seems the two are finding common ground, as the hearings continue in the case.

In the proceeding weeks since we initially spoke of the shambolic and embarrassing propagandizing by Epic following repercussions to their actions, they did have a small win. Towards the end of August, Epic won their restraint against Apple, which was trying to lock out all Epic developed tools: i.e, Unreal Engine support. That’s a simplification, of course, though they did take a small win to protect those developers that use the Epic developed game engine to create their games and use integration with Apple’s systems. Apple’s decision was to block all Epic tools, which would have affected many developers overall.

However, since then, the case went quiet for about a month. Court cases can often take a while, and this one will be no different. Don’t expect this mess to be resolved by Christmas. As reported by Cnet‘s Katie Collins, the presiding judge on the current case, judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, is quoted as saying: “I know that I’m just a stepping stone for all of you.” She would go on to say, “Whoever loses is going to take it up and say everything I did was wrong — that’s what litigators do. There’s no hard feelings, that’s the job. But I think it is important enough to understand what real people think.”

The focus of everyone’s coverage is with Apple and Epic. However, the latter is fighting a similar battle with the search engine, the lone Stadia owner, and the provider of the open-source mobile operating system Android OS. Judge Rogers called the Apple case one that is “the frontier of antitrust law,” with the trial expected to take place in July of 2021. Yes, kids, Fortnite will not be returning to your iPhone for some time, if this timeline is accurate. If Rogers is correct, which undoubtedly she is, she is only the start of the long and drawn-out legal process that Apple and Epic are going to take on this merry-go-round.

The July date was suggested by judge Rogers earlier this week; however, with one suggestion that both Apple and Epic disapprove of. It was only earlier this month that Apple filed a suit for a trial by jury. As Gamesindustry.biz reported, it was after judge Rogers’ recommendation that both Epic’s antitrust suit and Apple’s countersuit be settled by the jury, that both rebuked the idea.

In a joint statement, the two companies stated: “Epic and Apple have met and conferred, and the parties agree that Epic’s claims and Apple’s counterclaims should be tried by [the] court, and not by a jury.” Going on to say, “Therefore, with Epic’s consent, Apple hereby withdraws its demand for a jury trial… The parties respectfully request that the case—including any claims and counterclaims—proceed to a bench trial on a schedule determined by the court.” Which personally I find funny as the common understanding is “jury of your peers;” In this case, that’s every multinational billion-dollar company.