Google revealed that it was planning to acquire Fortnite developer Epic Games



Game engine

Unreal Engine and popular battle royal game ' Fortnight is known as the developer of' Epic Games is, Apple's App Store and Google's app store, such as Google Play is, 30% of the sales of third-party apps as a commission We have filed complaints against both companies, dissatisfied with the collection. Documents filed in court during the proceedings revealed that Google was considering acquiring Epic Games.

Google considered buying'some or all' of Epic during Fortnite clash, court documents say --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/6/22612921/google-epic-antitrust-case-court-filings-unsealed

Epic Games started a trial with Apple in May 2021, but has been proceeding with proceedings not only with Apple but also with Google. Epic Games has filed a lawsuit alleging that Google violates antitrust laws, pointing out in the complaint that 'Google has a close relationship with a particular company.' For example, Google has paid $ 8 billion to $ 12 billion to make Google Search the default search provider for Apple's web browser Safari, and the two companies have paid. He points out that close relationships lead to anti-competitive behavior.

In the latest proceedings in the proceedings, Epic Games claims that 'Google threatened plans to sideload Fortnite 's Android app, bypassing Google Play and distributing the app.' Foreign media The Verge said, 'Epic Games has agreed to eliminate competition from business partners by sharing exclusive profits, providing consumers and developers with a competitive alternative. We were trying to hamper efforts such as Epic Games to try. In fact, Google may have considered acquiring some or all of us to hamper Epic Games' side-loading plans. ' , Google reported that it was planning to acquire Epic Games.

'I didn't know at the time that Google was considering buying Epic Games,' said Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, in response to The Verge's report. It's now clear that we were considering the acquisition of Games and were trying to get in the way of the side-loading project we were planning to compete with Google Play. '



'It's unclear if this acquisition was for the acquisition of Epic Games or some sort of hostile takeover,' said Sweeney, who said Google was 'frankly terrible' about sideloading. , Publicly promotes Android as an 'open platform.' '



In addition, Epic Games claims that Google offered a special deal when it released the Android version of the Fortnite app. In the complaint, 'A Google manager contacts Epic Games' vice president and co-founder to assess whether Epic Games is interested in a special deal, especially sideloading to download the app directly. We talked about 'How to get the Fortnite app on Android'. Google's manager said 'Frankly terrible' and 'Terrible experience' about allowing the Fortnite app to be downloaded directly in the conversation history. On the other hand, Epic Games said, 'Most people need to avoid having to go through more than 15 steps.' It can be seen that Google hated sideloading.

Also, in an internal document titled 'Response to Epic', Google employees said that the harmful effects of downloading the app directly not only 'lead to a bad experience for the user' but also 'the app'. Reach to Epic Games will be reduced, leading to a significant loss of opportunity for Epic Games. ' In addition, 'targeting and update experience will be an issue for future Fortnite app updates.' 'The direct download method is highly relevant to malicious apps and is compatible with the Epic Games brand and customer base. 'No,' 'Google Play has billions of users searching fortnite, so downloading the app directly from the web can be very confusing to users,' Epic Games said. You can see that he was trying to convince him that his sideloading plan was wrong.



Epic Games has filed complaints against Google's antitrust violations in 36 states and the District of Columbia, and a group of state attorney generals also said that 'Android is far less open than Google claims.' .. Specifically, Google has restricted third-party app stores on Android smartphones, and points out that it also imposes strict restrictions on sideloading to download apps directly.

Meanwhile, Google said in a proceeding, 'The open Android ecosystem allows developers to distribute apps through multiple app stores, and for game developers who choose to use Google Play. , Google has a consistent policy to keep users fair and secure. '' Fort Knight is still available on Android, but it is not delivered on Google Play because it violates the policy. We have these We will continue to protect ourselves from claims that have no merit. '

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