Changes could be on the way for Apple’s (AAPL) online store after the Supreme Court declined to hear a dispute between the tech giant and Epic, maker of the popular video game Fortnite.

The court denied requests Tuesday to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:revisit a 2021 ruജling by a lower federal court that required Apple to allow software developers who sold products in its app store to include links to payment methods that get around the fees Apple charges.

The outcome potentially affects a multibillion-dollar source of revenue for Apple. Consumers spent $85 billion on in-app purchases through Apple’s app store in 2021, and that figure could nearly double to $161 billion by 2026, according to a 2022 report by Sensor Tower. 

Neither Apple nor Epic immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

The case goes back to 2020 when Epic launched an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of having a monopoly over software distribution on its widely used devices. A major point of contention is the fee of up to 30% that Apple takes from in-app purchases. 

For example, a gamer playing Fortnite on an Apple device in 2020 could purchase items for their characters such as hats—if they did, Apple would get a cut. (That particular case isn’t possible anymore since Apple removed Fortnite from the app store in 2020.)

A federal court mostly ruled against Epic but did give them a partial victory by ordering Apple to change its app store policies. Under the rules mandated by the court decision, the developer could link users to a website that allowed the player to buy the hat directly from Epic, without going through Apple or paying the fee.

Both sides appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, but now that the court has declined to hear the case, there is no higher court to take the case. Last summer, a federal appeals court allowed Apple to put off making the changes until the case was resolved but said the mandate would apply “immediately” if the Supreme Court declined to hear it.

"As of today, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web," Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.

Update, Jan. 16, 2023: This article was updated to include a comment from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.