It's been over three years since Epic Games first filed a lawsuit against Google in August 2020, claiming that Google's Play Store policies for Android devices adversely affected both developers and consumers. Today, that lawsuit is finally going to a jury trial in a federal courtroom in San Francisco.
The lawsuit started because Epic launched its own in-game monetary system for its hit game Fortnite, which went against the policies of both the Google Play Store and Apple's iOS Store. The move caused both Google and Apple to remove the game from those app stores but Fortnite can still be sideloaded on Android-based devices.
CNBC reports that Epic plans to state in the jury trial that even with the sideloading of apps on Android, Google still makes it very difficult for app developers to bypass the Play Store. It states:
In particular, Epic plans to call attention to Google’s contracts with handset makers that prevent the installation of alternative app stores, as well as other contracts with app developers that preclude them from launching a competing app store, said the person, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely on the plans.
In a blog post on Friday, Google stated its position, saying:
Epic argues that it is forced to distribute its apps through Google Play and that options available to developers are too restrictive. These claims are baseless. Android enables developers to distribute through multiple app stores or directly to users through the web, bypassing app stores altogether. The truth is that Epic simply wants all the benefits that Android and Google Play provide without having to pay for them. And it wants to strip away critical security and privacy protections that keep billions of users safe from things like unfair subscription practices and dishonest billing, for which Epic itself has faced record fines.
The witness list for this trial is expected to include Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and other key executives from Google, Epic, and third party companies like Apple and Netflix, according to CNBC.
Epic filed a similar lawsuit with Apple in 2020. However, the court trial ended up with Apple winning most of the case. The one thing that the court ruled in Epic's favor was that Apple could not keep developers from using outside payment methods for their iOS apps. Apple is seeking an appeal of that decision from the US Supreme Court.
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