Epic Games
Fortnite and Unreal Engine creator Epic Games has achieved another business victory in a legal fight against its old “enemy” – Google. Now, Google Play will have to admit third-party stores for three years, including Epic’s EGS.
Epic has already defeated Google several times, accusing it of holding a monopoly, similar to the Epic vs. Apple case, but the tech giant kept appealing, and this time won’t be an exception, according to The Verge.
In 2023, the jury of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California concluded that Google has monopoly power in the Android app distribution markets and in-app billing services markets.
Last year, Judge James Donato ruled that Google must allow “the distribution of third-party
Android app distribution platforms or stores through the Google Play Store” and grant them access to the catalog of Google Play apps.
Google keeps disagreeing and appealing such decisions, but for now, Epic is once again victorious: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will not overturn the jury verdict from 2023.
“Thanks to the verdict, the Epic Games Store for Android will be coming to the Google Play Store! It’s already available worldwide from our web site,” said its CEO Tim Sweeney.
“In the world of adrenaline-fueled survival that epitomizes the video game Fortnite, winners are decided in blazes of destruction and glory. By contrast, the outcome of this case – centered on Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games, and the Google Android platform – turns on longstanding principles of trial procedure, antitrust, and injunctive remedies,” shared Judge M. Margaret McKeown.
So now, Google will have to distribute other app stores in Google Play and give competitors access to the full catalog of GP apps. It will also be banned from a range of anticompetitive practices, including a requirement that apps use Google Play Billing.
Google, of course, doesn’t think it’s a great idea:
“This decision will significantly harm user safety, limit choice, and undermine the innovation that has always been central to the Android ecosystem. Our top priority remains protecting our users, developers and partners, and maintaining a secure platform as we continue our appeal,” Google’s global head of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland told The Verge.
While the case is similar to the one Epic had with Apple, it was decided they were different enough for the Apple battle not to impact this one, as Google preaches a much more open approach.
“Apple’s “walled garden” is, as the district court in Apple noted, markedly different from Google’s “open distribution” approach […] Google admits as much, noting that “Android’s open philosophy offers users and developers wider choices” than iOS does, even as that openness “limit[s] Google’s ability to directly protect users from encountering malware and security threats when they download apps.” As a consequence of its business model, Apple does not license iOS to other OEMs in the way that Google licenses Android to Samsung, Motorola, and other smartphone manufacturers.”
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