Epic Games proposes Google app store reforms after antitrust win
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[April 12, 2024] By
Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) -“Fortnite” video game maker Epic Games has urged a federal
judge in California to force Google to open up its Play Store to greater
competition after a jury found the U.S. tech giant had abused its power
as a gatekeeper for apps on the Android mobile platform.
Epic made its proposal in a court filing on Thursday to U.S. District
Judge James Donato in San Francisco, seeking among other things to
require Google Play Store to allow the distribution of competing
third-party app stores for six years and also limit the company’s
ability to make agreements with device makers to restrict preloading of
competing app stores.
Donato presided over a blockbuster antitrust trial that ended in a jury
verdict against Alphabet-owned Google in December.
Representatives from Google and Epic did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
Donato is not bound to grant Epic's proposal, and a hard fight is likely
before any permanent order on Google is issued. But the new filing sets
up the next key test of Google's ability to impose controls on app
developers and consumers.
The jury in December said Google unlawfully impeded developers' ability
to freely distribute their apps outside of Google’s Play Store and kept
an overly tight grip on payments for transactions within apps.
Epic's proposed injunction also said Google should be barred from
restricting "the ways an app can inform users about out-of-app
purchasing options."
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Fortnite game installing on Android operating system is seen in this
illustration taken, May 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Google has defended its app store practices and denied any
wrongdoing. The company has a May 3 deadline to respond to Epic’s
proposal. Epic’s lawsuit did not demand monetary damages.
North Carolina-based Epic Games is a privately held company, in
which China's Tencent owns a 40% stake and Walt Disney owns a stake
of about 9% as of February.
Google separately in December agreed to pay $700 million to resolve
state and consumer allegations over its Play Store restrictions.
The company said then it was expanding the ability of app and game
developers to provide consumers an alternative billing option for
in-app purchases. Google said it had piloted "choice billing" in the
U.S. for more than a year.
Google has said it will appeal the December antitrust jury verdict,
and it can separately challenge any reforms ordered by Donato, which
could stretch the case for years.
A similar case Epic lodged against Apple in 2020, challenging its
grip on its App Store, is still being fought after a non-jury trial
and appeals.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington and Mrinmay Dey in
Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Susan Fenton)
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