Epic just won almost everything it asked for in its Google Play Store trial

Key Takeaways

• Epic v. Google ruling: Google must distribute competing app stores through the Play Store; give those app stores access to apps on the Play Store.
• Google may not restrict developers or device makers from working with other app stores.
• The ruling is set to take effect on November 1; Google intends to appeal and is seeking to delay enforcement.

Last December, in a suit brought by Fortnite developer and publisher Epic Games, a California jury unanimously found that Google had created a monopoly in the Google Play Store. Today, Judge James Donato issued a final ruling in Epic v. Google, and the implications are significant: beginning in November, Google will have to host alternative app stores — like Epic Games — on the Play Store for a period of three years, among other concessions. Google has said it will appeal the ruling, citing the multiple ways apps are already distributed on Android.

Per The Verge, Judge Donato's ruling gives Epic a lot of what it was asking for in its suit. Beginning on November 1, Google must distribute alternative app stores through the Play Store, and it has to give those alternative app stores access to every app available on the Play Store itself, though developers will have the option to opt out of distribution through other stores. The court also ruled that Google will no longer be able to require Google Play Billing in apps distributed on the Play Store, and that developers must be allowed to let users know about alternative ways to download their apps and make in-app purchases.

Google will also not be allowed to share app revenue with app distributors; incentivize developers to release apps exclusively on Google Play; incentivize developers not to release apps on competing platforms; or incentivize device manufacturers or mobile carriers to preinstall the Play Store or not preinstall competing app stores.

The injunction against Google gives some leeway when it comes to security, stating that Google is allowed to take "necessary and narrowly tailored" measures to keep sketchy third-party app stores off the Play Store, similar in scope to the ways Google already moderates which apps are and aren't allowed on the store today.

Epic was seeking changes to Play Store policies that would be in effect for six years, but Donato opted for a three-year stay "to level the playing field for the entry and growth of rivals, without burdening Google excessively." Per the ruling, these restrictions are meant to stay in place until November 1, 2027.

How we got here and what comes next

Google will appeal; changes may be delayed

Back in 2020, Epic brought suit against both Apple and Google for similar reasons. After Epic added options to purchase Fortnite's in-game currency in ways that bypassed Apple and Google's customary in-app purchase (IAP) fees on iOS and Android, both platforms booted the game from their app stores. Almost immediately, Epic announced lawsuits against both companies, painting them each as maintaining a monopoly on app distribution in their respective ecosystems. Epic's suit against Apple went to trial in 2021; Epic v. Google didn't begin in earnest until 2023.

Epic's wins in its case against Apple were more limited than today's against Google. While Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple could no longer enforce so-called "anti-steering rules" that prohibit developers from pointing users away from Apple's in-app purchase pipeline and toward other options, Apple was not ruled to have a monopoly, and was allowed to continue requiring use of its IAP platform for apps distributed through the App Store.

In a blog post detailing Google's plans to appeal, Google VP of Regulatory Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland writes that "these changes would put consumers’ privacy and security at risk." Mulholland also argues that existing app distribution methods provide adequate consumer choice: "Epic Games has made its popular Fortnite app available to Android users through the Samsung Galaxy Store, sideloading, and the Epic Games Store – all while Fortnite was not distributed through Google Play."

Google says it will "ask the courts to pause Epic’s requested changes" while its appeal plays out, so whether the changes above will go into effect on November 1 remains to be seen.

Related

Samsung and Google are already in legal trouble over Android's recent sideloading changes

Epic Games just filed a fresh lawsuit

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