In a decision that could change the app store economy, a San Francisco jury ruled against Alphabet’s Google in its high-profile antitrust trial versus Epic Games, makers of the hugely popular ‘Fortnite’.
Epic alleged Google’s Play app store operated as an illegal monopoly. It had also lodged a similar antitrust case against Apple in 2020, but the ruling by a US judge was largely in favour of Apple in September 2021. The case was then taken to the US Supreme Court where Epic has asked Court to revive key claims in the Apple case.
However, against Google on Monday, jurors found for Epic on all counts after more than a month of trial. Epic accused Google of using its dominant position to squeeze excess profits from app developers, and charge unduly high fees of up to 30 per cent to app developers and quash competitors.
Epic was kicked out of both Apple App Store and Google Play in 2020 when it began encouraging Fortnite players to pay the company directly for purchases of in-game items, rather than using Google and Apple’s systems.
The court will begin work in January on what remedies Google needs to implement.
Google’s Play is the largest app store in the world alongside Apple’s and the ruling could pave the way for massive changes in the way developers sell their products and give them a larger say in the process and a bigger share of revenue.
In an e-mailed statement, Wilson White, vice president of government affairs and public policy, said Google would appeal the ruling and added: “Android and Google Play provide more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform.
“We will continue to defend the Android business model and remain deeply committed to our users, partners and the broader Android ecosystem.”
Tim Sweeney, Epic CEO, was delighted with the ruling and tweeted on X: “Victory over Google! After 4 weeks of detailed court testimony, the California jury found against the Google Play monopoly on all counts. The Court’s work on remedies will start in January. Thanks for everyone’s support and faith! Free Fortnite!”
One of the more sensational allegations levelled against Google was that it deleted texts and internal messages for the purpose of concealing its anti-competitive behaviour.
Google: Fierce competition with Apple’s App Store
Google denied wrongdoing, saying it competes “intensely on price, quality, and security” against Apple’s App Store.
Jonathan Kravis, a Google lawyer, told jurors that “Google does not want to lose 60 million Android users to Apple every year”. Google lowered its fee structure to compete with Apple, which, according to Kravis, is not “the behaviour of a monopolist”.
The Play Store brings in a revenue of $12 billion annually, a relatively small percentage for Google, but plays a key role in promoting its search engine, which is the cash cow for the company.
Google is already involved in another antittrust case, against the Justice Department, which focuses on its search engine. Closing arguments in that case are scheduled for May.
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