Apple ‘Salted The Earth With Subpoenas’ in Case With Epic Games, Says Judge

A California magistrate declared on Wednesday that “Apple has salted the earth with subpoenas,” during its legal standoff with Epic Games, Law360 reported. However, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson ultimately ruled that Valve, the firm behind the popular Steam gaming software, has to hand over certain pricing and sales data as part of the case.
Valve to Hand Over Data to Apple in Epic Games Case
Valve is amongst a number of third-parties that have become caught up in the escalating battle between Apple and Epic Games. It had argued it did not have to give the data to Apple. Meanwhile, Apple’s counsel, Jay P. Srinivasan, claimed that the Valve data will help support his client’s definition of a relevant market and demonstrate that App Store rules did not limit Epic Games. “This is a prominent player to complete the picture of the relevant market,” he said.
Valve’s representatives argued the demand was overly burdensome. However, the judge ruled it now has to provide aggregate historical sales and pricing data, amongst other information, on 436 games sold through Steam. “It’s my understanding, for lack of a better word, Apple has salted the earth with subpoenas, so don’t worry, it’s not just you,” Judge Hixson told the Valve’s counsel. The judge did though limit the amount of data it had to handover to that from 2017 and beyond. Apple had wanted it from 2015.