In December 2023, a significant victory was achieved by Epic Games in a prolonged legal dispute with Google that lasted three years. The jury determined that Google maintained a monopoly over the distribution of applications on its Android operating system and employed unfair methods to preserve that monopoly through anti-competitive measures.
According to a report by CNBC, Judge James Donato has established a permanent injunction against Google, compelling the company to permit third-party Android app stores to operate on its mobile platform.
The injunction will take effect in November, and it stipulates that Google is prohibited from financially incentivizing app developers to launch their applications exclusively or first through the Google Play Store for the next three years. The tech giant is also forbidden from making payments to prevent competition with the Play Store and cannot compensate device manufacturers to preinstall Google Play on their newly released devices.
Furthermore, Google is required to facilitate the availability of third-party app stores within the Google Play Store framework, ensuring they have access to all applications listed on the Play Store.
Lastly, Google and Epic Games will collaborate to create a three-member committee tasked with overseeing compliance with this new legal mandate. At this point, neither Epic nor Google has publicly responded to the judge’s decision.
Currently, a version of the Epic Games Store is accessible globally for Android users, as well as for iOS devices in the European Union. This ruling could potentially enable Microsoft to finally introduce a native Android version of its long-anticipated mobile gaming store. Microsoft has indicated plans to roll out a web-based iteration of a gaming-focused mobile store, but details regarding the launch schedule remain unclear.
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