Epic Games persuaded a jury in December that Google unlawfully stifled competition through its controls over app distribution and payments.
Google must open up its Android app store to competition from smaller rivals like “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, a federal judge said Monday in a bombshell ruling that could topple the company’s dominance over the app market.
Additionally, Google will be blocked from paying specific app developers to exclusively use its Play store for distribution and barred from sharing revenue generated by its Play Store with other app store operators. “Ultimately, while these changes presumably satisfy Epic, they will cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device makers,” Google said in a blog post.“You’re going to end up paying something to make the world right after having been found to be a monopolist,” Judge James Donato told Google’s lawyers in court.Epic Games did not immediately return a request for comment on the judge’s decision.
During the trial, Epic’s legal team had focused on Google’s practice of making payments and striking deals with developers to stifle competition against the Play Store. Lawyers referred to the practice – known internally as “Project Hug” – as a “bribe and block” scheme.
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