Character actors from Epic Games’ Fortnite video game dance at the E3 electronic entertainment expo in Los Angeles on June 12, 2019.
Kyle Grillo | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A U.S. judge issued a permanent injunction on Monday that would force Google Provides an alternative to the Google Play Store for downloading apps on Android phones.
Google will also be restricted from paying fees or sharing revenue to companies in exchange for them choosing not to compete with Google’s app store. Affected by this news, Alphabet’s stock price fell more than 2% on Monday.
Epic Games beat Google late last year, and Monday’s filing details the changes Google must make.
The ruling by California Judge James Donato is the most significant outcome of Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against Google, which was launched in 2020. actions, including paying hardware companies and Android phone manufacturers not to develop competing app stores.
The decision could lead to developers gaining greater market share, as Google and Apple’s app stores typically account for 15% to 30% of total sales of high-grossing apps. Google Play’s new restrictions could allow developers to keep more revenue by bypassing Google’s rules or fees. Consumers will spend $124 billion on apps in 2023, According to the sensor tower.
According to the document, starting in November, for three years, Google will not be able to:
- Pay companies to launch apps exclusively or first on Google Play
- Pay companies not to compete with Google Play
- Pay the company to pre-install Google Play on new devices
- Require app makers to use Google Play billing, or prohibit app makers from referring users to cheaper online products on their websites. (Google Play charges 15% to 30% on in-app purchases from large app makers.)
- Google must also allow competing Android app stores to access Google Play’s app catalog
- Google will have to offer third-party Android app stores on its Google Play app store.
Epic and Google will also form a three-person committee to review technical issues related to Google’s compliance, the document said.
Epic Games beat Google late last year, and Monday’s filing details the changes Google must make. Epic Games mostly lost a very similar lawsuit against Apple and its control of the App Store. Google’s trial will be decided by a jury. Apple’s trial is decided by a judge.
Epic Games publishes games like Fortnite that monetize through in-app purchases of character outfits and other so-called “skins” and challenges Google and Apple’s contractual controls on mobile app distribution in 2020, offering more Cheap Fortnite buys in-game currency, violates App Store rules and sparks lawsuits.
Epic Games has mostly lost similar lawsuits against Apple and its control of the App Store. Google’s trial will be decided by a jury. Apple’s trial is decided by a judge.
在谷歌審判期間,Epic Games 重點關注谷歌是否透過與手機製造商的交易鎖定了應用程式商店市場,以及是否透過安全警告嚇退用戶使用Android 的側載功能,該功能允許Android 用戶從網路安裝應用program.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney previously said Google’s corporate culture contributed to Epic’s victory because Google officials often wrote or documented business practices in emails or communications sent during the trial.
Representatives for Google and Epic Games did not immediately respond to requests for comment.