Fortnite developer, Epic Games, emerged victorious in the antimonopoly trial against Alphabet Corporation, the owner of Google. The jury ruling determined that the Google Play application store abused its dominant position. The potential impact of this solution on the economy of all applications is significant, pending support in subsequent stages of the trial.
The trial, which lasted over a month, resulted in unanimous support from the jurors for all of EPIC’s positions. The main focus of the dispute was Google’s alleged unfair competition and imposition of disproportionately high commissions, reaching up to 30%, on application developers. In January, the court will determine appropriate measures to rectify the situation.
This verdict marks a sensational defeat for Google, positioning itself as one of the largest application stores in the world alongside Apple. If the verdict stands, developers will have more control over the distribution and monetization of their products.
In response to the ruling, Google announced its intention to appeal the decision. Wilson White, Vice President at Google, stressed the adherence to the Android model and continued support for users and partners.
One of EPIC’s key accusations against Google was the illegal bundling of the Google Play Store and payment service, coercing developers to utilize both in order to have their applications featured in the store.
Despite its relatively lower contribution to revenue compared to Google’s search business, the Play Store holds undeniable importance for the company due to its role as the primary access point for billions of mobile devices. The court’s decision might compel Google to open up Android for other application stores and potentially reduce income from commissions on in-game purchases.
Epic Games affirmed that the court’s decision validates the illegality of Google’s practices, accusing the company of abusing its monopoly position and stifling innovation. The court also raised concerns regarding Google’s deletion of internal messages between employees as an attempt to conceal its anticompetitive behavior, further reinforcing the gravity of the charges.
Google, on the other hand, denies the accusations, asserting its intensive competitive confrontation with the Apple App Store and its emphasis on quality and security. The conflict also centers around the Play Store rules, which Epic violated by enabling users to make in-game purchases directly, bypassing the Google system. In response, Google, like Apple, removed Fortnite from its application store, thereby sparking the legal battle.
This trial against Google mirrors a similar case initiated by EPIC against Apple in 2020, where most of the decisions were made in favor of Apple