Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, December 22 2023 @ 09:49 am
Last modified on Friday, December 22 2023 @ 09:54 am
Epic Games, maker of popular game Fortnite, just won an antitrust lawsuit against Google for its Play Store practices. This outcome could be a gamechanger for app developers, who must rely on Google and Apple stores to get their apps out in the world.
According to Tech Crunch, a San Francisco court found that Google “willfully acquired or maintained monopoly power by engaging in anticompetitive conduct” as stated in the court filings. The jury determined Google’s liability, but a judge still has to decide what the final outcome will be.
The two companies will plead their cases in January to argue for how Google will need to adjust its Play Store policies going forward. Currently, the company takes a commission of as much as 30 percent of all purchases made via apps on its platform. The original lawsuit included Match Group among other companies, but all of them settled out of court apart from Epic Games.
It's not clear how the judge will craft a solution, especially in terms of the monopoly Google and Apple have on the app store market. As Tech Crunch[*1] points out, it could be that the court will specify what type of competitive agreements Google can enter into in the future with regard to app developers. Or it could make rules around third-party payment systems, like dictating what percentage Google is allowed to take from purchases made on third party apps.
The big question is: how restrictive will the court be in reigning in Google, and where do they draw the line so that they aren’t interfering with competition?
“The court is going to be trying to strike a balance to restore competition in these markets where the jury has found competition has been restrained,” Paul Swanson, a partner at law firm Holland & Hart that deals with antitrust legislation, told Tech Crunch. He said that the court likely won’t get into specifics with the remedy, and instead will “focus on expanding choice around the downloading and purchase of Android apps,” according to Tech Crunch.
Also of note is that Apple won its lawsuit against Epic, arguing that it has a single product that integrates the hardware with iOS and the App Store, different from Google’s Play Store where the jury found that app buying and distribution are separate markets.
Epic’s win could also mean new lawsuits from app developers against Google and Apple going forward. Google will likely challenge the ruling on appeal.
Google and Apple face even more regulation overseas. Europe’s new Digital Market Act is set to go live next year, and the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, which enforces new regulations for tech companies is currently being considered for a vote in Parliament. Regulations are also being considered in Japan, Australia, Canada and the U.S.