Victory Royale: Epic Games Wins Against Google In Historic Monopoly Trial
Victory Royale: Epic Games Wins Against Google In Historic Monopoly Trial
Epic Games, makers of Fortnite and the epicenter of the app store battle against two software giants that is Apple and Google, has won a historic case against Google as judges deemed it to be engaging in illegal, anti-competitive practices in ensuring its monopolistic position of Play Store (and its billing service) remains secure.
The whole legal battle started back in 2020 when Epic Games first launched a legal attack on Apple, for the same reasons it sued Google today – for barring third-party payments if a player makes in-app purchases, effectively circumventing the 30% cut Apple and Google impose to every app offered in their services. Epic lost that particular fight to Apple; however, that result couldn’t be more different today as judges unanimously decided that Google is, in fact, a monopoly under US and California antitrust laws.
Why the difference? Some pointed out that this could be due to the nature of the way Apple and Google operate their platforms: for Apple, since it’s a completely closed system – just like game consoles – it is completely fine for Apple (or even Microsoft and Sony, for that matter) to restrict all apps through its singular, exclusive storefront. Google’s Android, meanwhile, is open-source – which means on paper everybody is allowed to set up shop on the operating system barring any technical limitations.
And here’s the problem: Google is proven to be making under-the-table deals with various parties under the codename of “Project Hug“. One particular party involved happens to be Epic themselves – as Google planned to give a ‘sweetheart’ agreement to secure an exclusive launch of Fortnite in the Play Store. The search engine giant also signed deals with phone makers and telco carriers, which will be eligible for a share of the search revenue from their smartphone users, on the condition that these devices shall not come pre-loaded with other app stores.
Epic Games has since published a blog post celebrating its victory in this long legal battle. “Today’s verdict is a win for all app developers and consumers around the world. It proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and they abuse their monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation.” The company also thanked the jury for the decision. “The one million game developers who couldn’t be here thank you!”
Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO, has posted on X (Twitter) noting that Epic’s battle with Apple is still ongoing.
Pokdepinion: Hard to say what kind of implications we’d be seeing from this point on – legal stuff is complicated, after all.
