Epic Games sued Apple and Google last year, accusing the corporations of maintaining a duopoly on mobile-app distribution with their app stores. Now the antitrust battle has escalated, with Google countersuing Epic for launching Fortnite on Android, effectively dodging the Google Play billing system, a move Google say poses a risk to user security.
Google contend Epic knowingly breached a developer contract in 2020 when they updated the hit game with a hotfix in order to sidestep paying Google Play developer fees.
This, they suggest, allowed them to unjustly enrich themselves at Google’s expense, and posed the potential security risk.
Google say they have lost service fees due to the contract breach and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
“The Google Play Ecosystem has suffered injury because the hotfix potentially exposed a security vulnerability that could be exploited for even more nefarious purposes,” Google say.
The complaint puts forward that Epic continues to breach contractual obligations because anyone who downloads the unapproved version of Fortnite can still make in-app purchases through Epic’s payment system outside Google Play.
Epic continues to breach its contractual obligations as gamers who downloaded the “unapproved” version of Fortnite can still make in-app purchases outside Google Play through Epic’s payment system.
