Apple is appealing its own 'resounding victory' over Epic Games. It wants to delay a judge's order to change its App Store rules.

• A judge ruled on Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple in September.
• At the time, Apple said the judge's verdict was a "resounding victory."

Apple filed for an appeal of a ruling handed down by a judge in its legal battle with "Fortnite" maker Epic Games on Friday.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled partly in favor of Apple in September, in a case that revolved around whether Apple should be allowed to ban developers from using their own payment systems in the App Store. Apple General counsel Kate Adams called the verdict a "resounding victory" at the time - but in a Friday filing, Apple asked for a delay on enacting one part of the judge's order.

The judge had ordered the tech giant to change its App Store rules around "anti-steering," which are rules that stop developers directing users away from an app to pay for services elsewhere, such as on a developer's website.

Apple levies a tax of between 15% and 30% on all in-app payments. Epic sued Apple in August 2020 after it tried to introduce its own payment system inside "Fortnite," and Apple booted the game off the App Store.

In its filing on Friday, Apple asked for a delay in getting rid of its anti-steering rule, as ordered in the judge's ruling. Apple said the delay would "allow Apple to protect consumers and safeguard its platform while the company works through the complex and rapidly evolving legal, technological, and economic issues."

Apple also argued in its filing that if it allowed developers to direct users elsewhere for payments, it would be less able to protect them from fraud.

Epic Games told Insider in September that it intended to appeal the ruling. Reacting to news of Apple's appeal, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney posted an image of a "Fortnite" banana on twitter.

While Apple has filed for its appeal, there has been no judgement yet on whether the appeal will be granted.

Apple and Epic Games did not immediately respond when contacted by Insider for comment.