A US court has ruled that Google must provide alternatives to its Play Store on Android devices, following a landmark antitrust lawsuit brought by Epic Games.
A US judge has issued a permanent injunction requiring Google to offer alternatives to its Google Play store for downloading apps on Android devices.
This significant ruling came from Judge James Donato in California and stems from Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against Google, which began in 2020.
Under the new ruling, Google is prohibited from paying fees or sharing revenue with companies in exchange for their agreement not to compete with its app store.
This decision could allow app developers to bypass Google’s fees, which typically range between 15% and 30% of sales, potentially increasing their share of the revenue.
In addition, Google will be prevented from:
- Paying companies to launch apps exclusively or first on Google Play.
- Paying companies to avoid creating competing app stores.
- Requiring preinstallation of Google Play on new devices.
- Forcing app developers to use Google Play Billing or banning them from informing users about cheaper alternatives outside the app store.
For the next three years, Google will also need to allow third-party app stores to access Google Play’s catalogue of apps and carry competing app stores on its platform. A three-person committee, consisting of members from both Google and Epic Games, will monitor Google’s compliance.
The lawsuit, initiated by Epic Games, accused Google of anti-competitive practices, including discouraging handset manufacturers from developing alternative app stores. Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, challenged both Google and Apple over their control of mobile app distribution, seeking to offer less expensive in-app purchases that bypassed their app store fees.
While Epic Games won key points in its case against Google, it largely lost a similar lawsuit against Apple. Google’s trial was decided by a jury, whereas Apple’s case was decided by a judge.
Google has stated its intent to appeal the decision and request a stay on the pending changes, while Epic Games has not yet commented on the ruling.