Judge says Apple wilfully broke court order in epic games case and a top exec “outright lied” under oath.

Apple is staring down the barrel of a potential criminal contempt investigation after a US federal judge found the tech giant wilfully defied a court order meant to open up the App Store to more competition. In a blistering ruling on Wednesday, District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accused Apple of intentionally violating her 2021 injunction — and referred the case to the US Attorney’s Office for possible criminal contempt proceedings.

The original court order stemmed from Apple’s legal battle with Epic Games, maker of the global gaming phenomenon Fortnite. Epic challenged Apple’s iron grip on in-app payments, arguing the company’s up-to-30% commission on purchases was monopolistic. In 2021, Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled partially in Epic’s favour, ordering Apple to allow developers to link users to external payment platforms — bypassing Apple’s system and the hefty fees that came with it.

But according to the judge’s latest findings, Apple did anything but comply.

In a sharply worded contempt order, Judge Gonzalez Rogers said Apple had continued “interfering with competition” and described the company’s behaviour as deliberate and calculated. She added that internal Apple documents clearly showed the company “knew exactly what it was doing and at every turn chose the most anticompetitive option”.

She didn’t stop there. The judge accused Apple’s vice president of finance, Alex Roman, of lying under oath, and criticised CEO Tim Cook directly for ignoring internal warnings about non-compliance. “Cook chose poorly,” she wrote, pointing to evidence that senior executive Phillip Schiller had urged Cook to comply with the injunction — only for Cook to side with CFO Luca Maestri, who reportedly convinced him not to.

At the heart of the controversy is Apple’s decision to slap a 27% commission on purchases made through external links — something that, prior to the ruling, cost developers nothing. The judge said this fee structure and additional barriers imposed by Apple were designed to dissuade developers and users from using alternative payment methods, thereby gutting the intended effect of the injunction.

Apple responded to the ruling late Wednesday, stating: “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.”

The fallout could be significant. Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ referral of the case to the US Attorney for Northern California opens the door to a rare and serious escalation — a potential criminal investigation against one of the world’s most powerful companies.

Meanwhile, Epic Games isn’t holding back. Its CEO and founder Tim Sweeney took to X (formerly Twitter), declaring victory and signalling a willingness to negotiate. “Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic,” he wrote.

In a separate post, Sweeney added: “NO FEES on web transactions. Game over for the Apple Tax.”

Sweeney likened the ruling to similar regulatory action taken under Europe’s Digital Markets Act, which also aims to curtail anti-competitive practices by major tech platforms.

The case is a landmark in the growing global pushback against Big Tech’s control of digital marketplaces. With Europe tightening rules and now a US judge referring Apple for possible criminal contempt, the pressure on Apple’s App Store policies is reaching a boiling point.

Whether the US Attorney chooses to pursue charges remains to be seen — but for now, Apple faces not just a legal headache, but a public reckoning.