The U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has rejected the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) appeal against a ruling which states that the regulator has no power to open an investigation into whether Apple's ecosystem restricts cloud gaming through its app store.
Apple won its appeal against the CMA in late March.
- In Nov. 2022, the CMA opened a probe to investigate whether Apple's ecosystem creates barriers to cloud gaming but reportedly failed to release its findings promptly.
- The CAT denied the CMA's investigation on the basis that it failed to meet deadlines and therefore had no authority to open its investigation in the first place.
- The regulator alleged that Apple restricts cloud gaming through its app store guidelines, which state that all games included in a cloud service must have their own App Store product page.
- The CMA is deciding on its next move and can still appeal against the tribunal's ruling through the Court of Appeal.