Google Play, Google’s Android app store, is accused of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour that harms both software developers and customers, according to a jury in a federal court decision rendered late on Monday.
After fighting against mobile app stores and their fees since 2020, including a failed challenge to Apple’s App Store policies that is presently being appealed to the Supreme Court, the ruling represents a big victory for Epic Games and its CEO, Tim Sweeney.
Sweeney credited the victory to disclosures made throughout the trial that Google was either deleting or not keeping information, including conversations regarding its covert agreements with app developers. He added that a jury had been used in the trial, but a judge had made the decision in the Apple case.
“The arrogance of Google executives breaking the law, and then expunging all evidence of breaking the law,” Sweeney stated in a CNBC interview. “That was truly incredible. You wouldn’t expect a trillion-dollar company to conduct business the way Google does, so this legal dispute is definitely not like any other.
Initially suing Google in 2020, Epic Games claimed that the company takes advantage of its position as the leading Android developer to negotiate contracts with smartphone manufacturers and extract more money from customers. For every digital transaction done through its shop, Google takes a cut of 15% to 30%. In an attempt to avoid paying such costs, Epic tried to charge customers directly for purchases made in the well-known game Fortnite; Google then removed the game from its store, which sparked the complaint.
Source (CNBC)
