Fortnite maker confirms Epic Games Store launch on Play Store after Google loses appeal

In the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today, Google faced its ongoing legal fight with Epic Games, where, unfortunately for the company, it lost its appeal against a federal court order that demanded it open up the Play Store.

This decision upholds the conclusion of the original trial with Epic Games in December 2023, which delivered a huge victory for the Fortnite maker after a jury found that Google maintained an illegal monopoly with its Google Play store and Google Play Billing service.

The core of Epic's argument was that Google actively suppressed competition by tying its store to its payment system, effectively forcing a 15 to 30% commission on developers. The jury agreed. The company's legal team had presented evidence of Google paying off other developers to keep them from launching their own app stores, which did not help its case at all.

The real pain for Google came in October last year, when Judge James Donato ordered the Mountain View giant to open things up. Google was told to do the following, among other things:

• Allow users to download rival app stores from within the Play Store.
• Permit developers to use their own billing systems for in-app purchases.
• Stop preventing developers from telling users about cheaper purchasing options outside the app.

Google, hating every part of that order, filed its appeal a month later in November, hoping to get it thrown out.

There is a difference in the way both companies reacted to today's news. Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO, was (obviously) celebratory on X, claiming that thanks to the verdict, the Epic Games Store for Android will be "coming to the Google Play Store."

On the other hand, Google's VP of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, stated that the ruling "will significantly harm user safety, limit choice, and undermine the innovation that has always been central to the Android ecosystem", adding that Google will continue its appeal.

Google's defense during the appeal process hinged on arguments that it faces stiff competition from Apple and that the court's orders would compromise Android's security. Now, with the appeals court not convinced, Google is running out of options; its last resort is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Source: Reuters