In a major blow to Google, a U.S. federal appeals court has ruled against the tech giant in its long-running legal battle with Epic Games. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Google acted unfairly by controlling how apps are downloaded and paid for on Android.
The case was brought by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, and now Google has no choice but to open up its Play Store to more competition.
Back in 2020, Epic challenged both Google and Apple for taking big cuts of in-app payments, sometimes as high as 30%. Google kicked Fortnite out of the Play Store, and that’s when the legal battle began.
A jury ruled in Epic’s favour in 2023, saying Google made it too hard for other app stores to grow. Google tried to appeal the decision, but this week, a higher court said the jury’s decision would stand.
So what now? Google has to make some real changes. It can’t force developers to use its payment system anymore, and it can’t stop other app stores from being downloaded through Google Play.
It also has to let developers sell apps using their own payment methods. These changes could help developers earn more money and give users more choice in how they download apps.
Google says the court’s decision could hurt user safety, but the judges didn’t buy that. Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, is already celebrating and says the Epic Games Store will soon be available on the Google Play Store. This ruling could be the start of a whole new era for Android.
