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Videogame stocks soared Friday after a federal judge ruled that Apple Inc. can no longer force app developers to use its payment system, allowing app developers to sidestep the large commissions that the tech giant collects.
The case was brought by Epic Games Inc., known for its “Fortnite” battle royale videogame, against Apple
AAPL,
a little over a year ago. While the Friday ruling allows app developers to collect revenue from in-app purchases directly, it did not declare Apple an antitrust monopolist.
That App Store sidestepping gave investors in videogame-related stocks reason to celebrate with shares of app-monetization company AppLovin Inc.
APP,
leading the charge with a more than 10% gain. AppLovin in August said Apple’s crackdown on ad data had a “muted” effect on its business and opted not to raise its outlook following a strong quarter.
Unity Software Inc.
U,
another player in the app-monetization business and also in the game engine space, saw shares rise 3%. In August, analysts had praised Unity’s ability to work around Apple’s attempts to deny user data to app developers.
Read: People are still playing a lot of videogames, but how much?
Meanwhile, shares of Roblox Holding Corp.
RBLX,
rose 4%, and Playtika Holding Corp.
PLTK,
shares rallied 6%. Recently, Playtika said it was acquiring design entertainment company Reworks Oy in a deal valued up to $600 million.
Electronic Arts Inc.
EA,
and Activision Blizzard Inc.
ATVI,
were both up around 3%, while Zynga Inc.
ZNGA,
shares surged 7%.
More on the change: Apple loosens App Store payment rules for ‘reader’ apps in another concession to developers
Trading at a 2% loss Friday was Take-Two Interactive Inc.
TTWO,
which late Thursday announced a four-month delay of new versions of its Grand Theft Auto franchise.
In the broader market, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
declined 0.2%, and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF
IGV,
was up 0.2%.
