Valve must provide Apple with sales data for Apple, judging by rules

Last week we learned that Apple had Subpoenaed Valve requesting data about games released through Steam, to help them raise their case in their legal kerfuffle with Games Epic. Valve argued they shouldn’t have to surrender, but yesterday a U.S. judge ruled in Apple’s favor.

The subpoena is part of Apple ‘s upcoming legal dispute with Epic Games, in which Epic claims Apple’s app store, and the mandatory 30% cut they will take from everything sold then, against competition. Apple is seeking data from Valve’s Steam digital distribution platform to help show the size of the market available for games like Fortnite, seemingly arguing that Apple doesn’t have a monopoly.

In particular, Apple wants information about 436 games available on the Steam store, including sales data, as a representative sample of the entire platform.

In the co-finding letter submitted last week, Valve argued that the requested data was inappropriate for the case, too difficult to collect, and that Valve had to provide information. preferred, as a private company, to provide.

Valve made those same arguments at a meaningful joint hearing Wednesday, but U.S. Justice Committee Thomas S. Hixson sided with Apple. He noted, MacRumors reports, that Apple had “salted the ground with subpoenas,” and told Valve, “don’t worry, it’s not just you.”

It may seem strange that Valve, which is not a party to this lawsuit, may be compelled to provide private information. Subpoenas are legal instruments designed to compel individuals or companies involved in a case to give evidence or evidence. In this case, as the creators of the largest distribution platform for PC games, and as a competitor to the Epic Games Store, Valve is very relevant. Speaking personally, with the far-reaching consequences that could result from this case – which extends far beyond just Fortnite or Apple – I hope the court will have access to more they can of information to reach their conclusion.

The public fight between Apple and Epic began in August last year, when Epic introduced a payment method to Fortnite on iOS that went beyond Apple’s average cut of 30% of sales on their devices. Apple immediately removed Fortnite from the app store; Epic immediately released a short short suit with filing; and the two companies have been preparing for court and sculpting on each other ever since. The case is expected to go to trial in July 2021.

I have emailed Valve to ask for an opinion, and whether they intend to appeal against subpoena rule.

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