A federal jury on Monday evening ruled on the Epic v. Google antitrust lawsuit in federal court and decided that Google’s Play Store app storefront violated antitrust law. The jury also said that Google’s in-app payment processing and Android app distribution were run as monopolies. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney
celebrated the victory that eluded Epic when it sued Apple in 2021. On “X, Sweeney tweeted, “Victory over Google! After 4 weeks of detailed court testimony, the California jury found against the Google Play monopoly on all counts.”
Google released a statement saying that it will appeal the ruling. Wilson White, vice president of government affairs and public policy at Google said, “Android and Google Play provide more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform. The trial made clear that we compete fiercely with
Apple and its App Store, as well as app stores on Android devices and gaming consoles. We will continue to defend the Android business model and remain deeply committed to our users, partners, and the broader Android ecosystem.”
The next step in the suit will take place next year when a separate process will look at possible solutions that can be imposed on Google and its Play Store app storefront, and could change how Google collects fees from developers, or force Google to make it easier for Android users to access third-party app stores. It should be noted that, unlike iOS, Android does allow users to sideload apps via a third-party app storefront.
Verdict Form presented to the judge in the Epic v. Google trial
The whole battle took place in 2020 when Epic offered players of its popular Fortnite game the opportunity to purchase in-game currency directly from Epic for a discounted price. This violated Apple and Google’s rules which allow them to take as much as 30% of in-app revenue. Both Apple and Google kicked Fortnite out of their app stores leading the game developer to take both Apple and Google to court.
In the Epic v. Apple lawsuit, which was decided by a judge and not a jury, Apple was not declared a monopolist as Google was today. During her decision in Epic v. Apple, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote, “Given the trial record, the Court cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws.”
Like Apple did, Google is complaining that Epic profited from the high-visibility of the Play Store without contributing to the costs of running the platform.
