Apple’s Treatment of Roblox in Spotlight in DOJ Antitrust Probe

As the U.S. government tries to put together an antitrust case against Apple for the way it controls iPhones, prosecutors are looking for instances in which the company is unevenly enforcing rules for app developers in ways that could hurt its potential rivals. One example they’re focused on is Apple’s hands-off approach with gaming firm Roblox, which compares starkly to how it deals with other gaming app developers.

Apple’s treatment of Roblox became an unlikely sideshow during a high-profile antitrust trial this summer between Apple and another game developer, Epic Games. During the trial, Epic argued that Apple had given a free pass to Roblox, whose app lets people pick from a selection of games to play. Apple has rejected Epic’s attempt to launch its own game app store on Apple devices.