Google is under another legal battle after Epic Games alleged that the company has monopolized its Android Play Store to lessen the competition in gaming.
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Google vs. Epic Trial Officially Begins
During Epic's opening statement, the company showed that Google Play Store was used for 90 percent of the app installments in 2020. Lead attorney Gary Bornstein claimed that Google has been paying actual and potential competitors to prevent them from competing, hence calling it anti-competitive.
On the contrary, Google stated that Samsung phones come with two app stores, and the choice is given to the users. Moreover, Google's attorney Glenn Pomerantz argued that the agreements that were done by the company were a market fee and not a monopoly fee. While other gaming companies such as Nintendo and Steam take the 30 percent fee, Epic only takes 12 percent.
The dispute started in 2020 after Epic pushed updates to Fortnite that allowed the company to bill customers directly for in-app purchases as opposed to paying through app stores. If the gaming company wins, this would force Google to make some changes, especially on its digital fee charges. Meanwhile, Epic will be allowed to its store pre-installed on devices.
Google Makes a Harder Case Than Apple
Epic Games also went on a legal battle against Apple which led to a loss. According to the reports, the trial with Google would be tougher as the company allows "sideloading" or the ability to install software off the web, whereas Apple prohibits the act. However, Google argued that Epic only wants to win to get something in return.
"The truth is that Epic simply wants all the benefits that Android and Google Play provide without having to pay for them," Google's VP of public policy and government affairs wrote as the company's defense citing that the gaming company already attempted the same case to Apple and lost twice.
Previously, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney defined Google's situation as "dealing in bad faith" and revealed that his company is not aware of the secret settlement terms that Google has been offering in the US.
Epic isn’t privy to the secret settlement terms Google is offering the States, but I’m worried Google may be dealing in bad faith: offering to end their monopoly payment tie, then circumventing the settlement and re-imposing the tie with new taxes on third-party payments. https://t.co/myC5aNGQlP
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 25, 2023
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