Epic Games wins antitrust case; Google ordered to open Play store to rivals

Google has been told by a US judge to modify its mobile app business, increasing choices for Android customers to install apps and conduct payments. This ruling comes after a jury sided with Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, who claimed that Google was a monopolist in the provision of apps and payments on Android gadgets.

US District Judge James Donato said in his injunction that for the next three years, Google cannot prevent users from downloading apps from other sources and cannot limit the use of other payment systems within applications.

“The changes would put consumers’ privacy and security at risk, make it harder for developers to promote their apps, and reduce competition on devices,” Google said in a statement.

Donato’s order stated that for three years Google cannot prevent the use of in-app payment methods and must allow users to download other third-party Android application stores.

Alphabet shares fell by 2.2% after the verdict. Donato stated that Epic and Google need to create a three-member technical committee to enforce and supervise the injunction. Google gets a pick and the two that they choose will pick the last one for Epic.

Google has stated it will challenge the verdict that resulted in the injunction and the process it might approach the San Francisco-based Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals to stay Donato’s order.

Donato said that his injunction would start on the 1^st of November, which he said would afford Google the opportunity to “bring its current agreements and practices into compliance”.

Epic filed the lawsuit in 2020 arguing that Google monopolized the way consumers interact with apps on Android and how they pay for purchases in those apps. The Cary, North Carolina-based company convinced a jury in December 2023 that Google was anti-competitive when it came to controls over app distribution and payments, setting up Donato’s injunction.

Google had advised Donato to decline the proposed reforms by Epic stating that they were expensive, rigid and would reduce consumer’s privacy and security. The judge mostly dismissed those arguments during an August hearing.

“You’re going to end up paying something to make the world right after being a monopolist,” he told Google’s lawyers.

Industry insiders regard this decision as a major blow to the market incumbency of large technology companies, suggesting that courts are prepared to ensure competition among platforms. The decision to compel Google to make the app store to other stores is considered as an unusual but necessary remedy after antitrust infringements.