Apple and Epic are suing Valve to produce a large amount of confidential data to testify for themselves

      On the morning of February 20, the legal proceedings between Apple and Epic Games are still ongoing. Some court documents show that Apple asked the court to subpoena another game company Valve and asked it to provide a large amount of sales and operation data as evidence in this case.

　　Valve Group is a golden sign in the gaming industry. Their representative works such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike are the youthful memories of many people born in the 1980s. They are called "V Club" by domestic game players, and Steam is Valve's PC online gaming platform.

Many people have seen this scene.

　　Last August, Epic used its own payment channel in its "Fortnite" and was removed from Apple's App Store (in fact, it was also removed from Google's App Store for this reason). After that, Epic took Apple to court.

　　Up to this stage, most users still stand on Apple's side, because most people think that Epic wants to make money through Apple's channels but does not want to pay the agreed share, which is not in line with the spirit of the contract.

　　But some recent details of this case make people feel that Apple's actions are also outrageous. During the trial, in November last year, Apple's legal department dragged Valve, which had nothing to do with the case, into the case. They asked Valve to provide a large amount of business data about Steam sales and operations to prove that Epic had engaged in improper operations in the competition.

Apple's lawsuit against Epic is still ongoing

　　The subpoena was initiated by Apple in November 2020, and Apple asked Valve to provide the annual total sales of its apps and in-app products, annual advertising revenue, annual sales of external products, and annual revenue and earnings from Steam. More detailed requirements also include the name of each app (game) on Steam, the date they were launched, and the price of all apps and in-app purchases.

　　Initially, Apple requested information on more than 30,000 games, but they have since narrowed their focus to about 600 games. Apple still insists on receiving information on each version of some games, as well as a large amount of financial data on Valve's business. Their reasoning is that the Steam platform is a leading digital game publisher on PC and a direct competitor of the Epic Game Store, so the Steam digital market sales and operation information can show the intensity of market competition for the Epic Game Store.

　　Apple argues that Valve should provide the information because it is not available elsewhere and "does not increase any risk of competitive harm."

      Valve, of course, refused to provide the information Apple requested. They said they had cooperated within a reasonable scope, providing documents on revenue sharing, competition with Epic games, Steam distribution contracts, etc., but Apple actually asked for six years of documents and related item sales for hundreds of games, which involved Valve's revenue trade secrets, which was very unreasonable.

　　Because the Steam gaming platform is mainly based on computers rather than mobile platforms, Valve expressed dissatisfaction that it was strange for Apple to drag them into this case. They believe that "Valve is not Epic, and there is no Fortnite on the Steam platform." Valve even believes that Apple wants to take the opportunity to obtain a large amount of sensitive business data. In addition, they added that they have not retained some of the data requested by Apple because they do not need this information in the normal course of business.

　　Valve is now calling on the court to dismiss Apple's subpoena. Meanwhile, Apple's lawsuit against Epic Games is ongoing.

　　Asking a third-party company to testify in court and produce some data as evidence is in line with legal procedures, but Apple's request does seem too detailed. Of course, this is only Apple's unilateral request.