Google vs. Epic Games lawsuit: Tech giant alleges verdict could harm competition with iOS

Google vs. Epic Games lawsuit has been one of the biggest tech stories last year. The high-profile case resulted in Epic’s win, as a jury found that Google has an illegal monopoly over its Play Store and billing services & agreed that Google used unfair practices.

And now, the lawsuit saga takes a new turn as US District Judge James Donato issued a ruling that allows alternative app stores (remember Apple’s App Store?) and restricts Google from making exclusive deals with developers, with compliance monitored by a joint committee from both companies.

Google now says it’s appealing the verdict, arguing that the decision fails to recognize the competition between Android and Apple. Unlike iOS’ closed ecosystem, which only recently opened up to third-party app stores, Google Android is an open platform that already allows multiple ways to distribute applications.

“The initial decision and today’s Epic-requested changes put that at risk and undercut Android’s ability to compete with Apple’s iOS,” says Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s VP for Regulatory Affairs.

The tech giant also believes that the changes requested by Epic could compromise consumer privacy and security, hinder app promotion, and ultimately harm developers and users because they would make it easier for harmful apps to enter the Android system and discourage developers from creating new and better apps.

The Google vs. Epic Games lawsuit started in 2020 when Epic Games added a direct payment option in Fortnite, skipping Google Play’s billing system and fees, which caused Google to remove the game from its app store.