California court rules in favor of Epic Games in Epic Games vs. Google antitrust lawsuit



Epic Games, the developer of popular games such as Fortnite , is filing a lawsuit against Google over its monopoly on Google Play, the Android app store. In the Epic Games vs. Google case, on December 11, 2023, a California court granted Epic Games' lawsuit and ruled that ``Google has created an anticompetitive market through its app store.'' did.

epic-v-google-final-jury-verdict-form.pdf
(PDF file) https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24211364/epic-v-google-final-jury-verdict-form.pdf

Epic v Google Trial Verdict, a Win for All Developers - Epic Games
https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/news/epic-v-google-trial-verdict-a-win-for-all-developers



Epic win: Jury Google has illegal monopoly decides in app store fight - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/23994174/epic-google-trial-jury-verdict-monopoly-google-play

Epic Games CEO says his company won in Google Play antitrust case | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/legal/google-epic-games-face-off-app-antitrust-trial-nears-end-2023-12-11/

Apple and Google charge 15-30% fees for app purchases and in-app purchases through their own app stores. In response to this, Epic Games introduced a payment method that bypasses the app store in the mobile app version of Fortnite in August 2020. However, this led to Fortnite being removed from each app store as it violated the terms of use. On the other hand, in response to this reaction from the mobile OS side, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple and Google for violating antitrust laws.

In the Epic Games vs. Google trial, which has been held since November 2023, various testimonies regarding antitrust lawsuits were given. In order to prove Google's antitrust violations in the lawsuit, Epic Games agreed toa contract to pay $8 billion over four years to maintain Google Play's share on Samsung devices. The company claims that it has signed a contract, paid hundreds of millions of dollars (tens of billions of yen) to major game companies such as Activision Blizzard and Riot Games, and urged them not to open their own app stores.

Epic Games claims that ``Google paid 51 billion yen to prevent major game companies from opening their own app stores'' - GIGAZINE



In addition, in a series of lawsuits, Google has been sanctioned by the court for ``destroying evidence'' and ``making multiple false reports.''

Google is sanctioned by court for ``destroying evidence'' and ``multiple false reports'' in lawsuit with Epic Games - GIGAZINE



After more than a month of litigation, on December 11, 2023, a jury in California federal court found in favor of Epic Games, finding that Google has an illegal monopoly over Google Play and its payment services. Certified. 'Today's verdict is also a victory for all app developers and users around the world,' Epic Games said in a statement. They have proven to reduce innovation by charging fees and stifling competition.”

On the other hand, in response to this ruling, Wilson White, Google's Vice President of General Affairs and Public Policy, said, ``Google plans to appeal this ruling. We offer more choice and openness than other platforms. Google Play has traditionally competed fiercely with app stores such as Apple's App Store. We will continue to protect the Android business model and We remain deeply committed to our users, partners, and the broader Android ecosystem.'

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