Epic boss Tim Sweeney blasts Google for washing hands over Xbox delaying Android's direct purchase

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has fired back at Google following the tech giant’s recent claim regarding Microsoft’s ability to launch an Xbox game store on Android.

The search engine giant has previously responded to Microsoft’s claim that it had created an Xbox game store for Android but couldn’t launch it because of Play Store restrictions. Google disagreed, saying, “Microsoft has always been able to let Android users play and buy Xbox games from their app – they just chose not to.”

And now, in a strongly-worded response, Sweeney called Google’s statement “deceitful.”

“Shame on them,” he 在 X 上说. “They well know that the 30% cut they demand is far more than all of the profit from game streaming. They know this because they blew hundreds of millions of dollars building the failed Stadia game business themselves.”

Xbox’s president Sarah Bond has 此前曾表示 that the plans to launch direct purchase of Xbox games on Android have now been delayed due to a temporary administrative stay granted by the courts. It is now “ready go live as soon as the court makes a final decision.”

And with Google in the crosshairs, Epic Games is no stranger to these kinds of disputes. The company famously sued Apple back in 2020 over its App Store policies, arguing that the 30% commission was anti-competitive.

Apple was ordered to allow developers to use external payment systems for in-app purchases. But, Apple’s compliance plan, which still involves taking a commission on some external transactions, has been criticized by Epic as “bad-faith” compliance. So, this year, the two were back in court.