Google’s Android operating system is a “fake open platform,” claimed Epic Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney during his antitrust lawsuit testimony.
Sweeney, who founded the game maker who developed Fortnite, also said Google Play policies are unlawful because they block other apps in the Android mobile app distribution market.
In 2020, Epic promoted Fortnite on Android and skirted the Google Play billing system along with the 30% profit cut it was taking from app developers.
“We very much wanted to avoid that and do business directly with our customers,” Sweeney said on the stand.
During the 2021 antitrust suit targeting Apple’s App Store, Sweeney had testified that the tech giant’s policies were unjust and self-serving, much like his current testimony on Google Play, but Apple mostly won the suit, which ended with the Fortnite maker calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to examine it.
Google has denied any wrongdoing, but if Epic wins, Google could be required to admit competing app marketplaces and payment methods on its app store, putting in jeopardy billions in revenue produced by Google Play.
Sweeney testified on several potentially damaging points, such as Google’s operating system was a “fake open platform” and that Google wanted to come to an agreement with Epic, a deal Sweeney said he turned down, which led the tech titan to plan out “secret” accords with mobile device makers to uphold Google Play as the leading Android app marketplace.
The Epic CEO said he found Google Play as closed as Apple’s App Store, in terms of policies for developers, and asked for justice.
“We want the jury to find that Google has violated the law so the court can make Google stop enforcing these policies,” he said during the trial.
Google’s lawyer Jonathan Kravis, however, cornered Sweeney, who, despite criticizing Google about its 30% cut to developers by gaming platforms, admitted that his company compensated a 30% piece of the pie to Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony Corp’s PlayStation, and Nintendo consoles. The payments were made off the USD $12 billion Epic earned on the three platforms.
Additionally, Sweeney conceded that not one of the three game console makers permits developers to let users download their apps straight through websites other than Google’s Android operating system.
Sweeney was also made to clarify that Apple and Microsoft charge 0% fees to distribute Fortnite on personal computers after Kravis prodded him.
Credit: Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
In response to Epic’s CEO testimony, a Google spokeswoman said the game maker takes maximum benefit of Android’s distribution selections by making Fortnite accessible for billions of global Android users to download through the Samsung Galaxy Store and straight from their website.
“This choice and flexibility is possible only on Android,” she said. “Android is the only major mobile platform that gives developers multiple ways to distribute apps.”
Additionally, Epic highlighted a deal with Google with Spotify that provided the music streamer a substantial break on developer fees. According to global partnerships head Don Harrison, Spotify pays 0% if users opt to use the music platform’s payment system and 4% if users go with the Google Play billing system to process transactions.
Epic wanted to show with this testimony that Google cherry-picks which companies it wants to give discounted rates to despite it mainly limiting developers from extending payment methods other than Google Play billing.
Sweeney is a long-time advocate of open software ecosystems, and the Google case is the latest in the CEO’s crusade to take down companies with monopolistic practices and stifle consumer choice.
