Epic Games’ App Store Ruling Just Handed Crypto a Nuclear Weapon

Apple’s walled garden just got a sledgehammer—and decentralized apps are first in line to exploit the cracks.

When Epic Games scored its landmark antitrust win against Apple, crypto devs didn’t just cheer. They started coding. The ruling guts Apple’s 30% ‘tax’ on in-app purchases, a toll that’s long strangled blockchain apps trying to onboard normies. Now? Direct fiat ramps, NFT marketplaces without Apple’s middleman cuts, and sideloaded wallets that bypass the App Store entirely.

But here’s the twist: while DeFi celebrates, Wall Street’s still trying to mint ‘Apple Coin’—because nothing says innovation like a Fortune 500 company slapping ‘blockchain’ on their stock buyback program.

Apps using iOS have always been able to offer in-app purchases, and some chose not to in large part because of the profit margins with those fees.

It’ll help smaller developers trying to break even, as well as more established firms looking to boost revenue and see long-term growth. 

This ruling could make mobile games an even bigger portion of the blockchain gaming sector. Last year, Game7 Research found mobile games were the most popular platform for crypto game developers, making up roughly 30% of that market.

Making users leave the app still isn’t ideal, but it’s better than what it was before.

The decision’s receiving positive feedback from executives in the crypto gaming space. Mythical Games COO Arron Goolsbey applauded Apple’s changes, “even if they were reluctant to open the door to a wider, more connected future.” 

Sam Barberie, Sequence’s head of strategy and partnerships, said it’s “massive” for NFTs and blockchain games.

“Such high fees made it unviable for most Web3 games to target mainstream audiences on the US appstore [sic] but now the friction is gone,” Immutable cofounder Robbie Ferguson wrote on X. “We’ve still got a long way to go before Web3 gaming is truly mass-market but a huge source of friction just got removed.”

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