Google this week is set to appeal a US District Court jury verdict and judge’s ruling in favour of Fortnite developer Epic Games.
Since 2020, Epic Games has sought the right to directly collect in-app payments within Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. It claims both app stores operate as a monopoly which forces Epic to pay 15% and 30% commissions on in-app payments collected during gameplay.
The action has led to a bevy of court cases in the US, along with Federal Court proceedings in Australia, with separate legal action taken against Apple and Google.
Epic eventually lost its case against Apple in 2021 when a judge ruled in Apple’s favour on nine of ten counts. Epic won a minor concession that stops Apple from preventing developers from telling users about the existence of alternative payment methods within their apps. It was case-over when the US Supreme Court denied full appeals by both Apple and Epic in January 2024.
Epic’s court action against Google has soldiered on, with a hearing by a US federal appeals court this week, reports The New York Post.
Epic successfully argued that Google had illegally prevented competition during a San Francisco jury trial in 2023. A judge ordered Google to let users download rival app stores within its Google Play store, an order which is on hold pending this appeal.
Google’s appeal is due to be heard this week in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Google published a blog post in October 2024 where it detailed its rationale for this appeal.
It partly hinges on the District Court judge having allowed Epic to inform the jurors that Google and Apple are not direct competitors, which Google says is totally wrong.
It also has restated concerns about privacy and security.
“As we have already stated, these changes would put consumers’ privacy and security at risk, make it harder for developers to promote their apps, and reduce competition on devices,” Google says in its blog post.
Google’s key argument that it doesn’t operate a monopoly appears stronger at face value than was Apple’s, as Google allows sideloading of apps outside its Play Store whereas Apple officially does not. But that hasn’t played out in Google’s favour so far.
“These Epic-requested changes stem from a decision that is completely contrary to another court’s rejection of similar claims Epic made against Apple — even though, unlike iOS, Android is an open platform that has always allowed for choice and flexibility like multiple app stores and sideloading.”
Epic, meanwhile, has accused Google of a “years-long strategy to suppress competition among app stores and payment solutions”.
Despite winning its case, Apple hasn’t had it all their way with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act requiring it to allow third party storefronts to be loaded onto iOS devices. The UK is imposing a similar requirement and Epic has said it planned to bring its Epic games store and Fortnite to both jurisdictions.