If the US Supreme Court upholds a recent court ruling, Google may have to allow third-party stores on Android, However, there is no guarantee that this will happen since the high court ruled in favor of Apple in a similar lawsuit, denying almost all of the plaintiff's requests.
The plaintiff in question is Epic Games. This veteran game developer, tired of the practices of both companies, tried to evade fees on in-app purchases with an update to one of its most popular titles., Fortnite game. The response of both was to remove Fortnite from their app stores.
Google may have to allow third-party stores on Android
On October 7, Judge James Donato issued his final verdict in the Epic v. Google case, ordering Google to allow competition in its Google Play app store for a period of three years. Google must allow downloading of third-party app stores within Google Play and grant these stores access to the full catalog of apps from Google Play, unless developers individually opt out. These were Epic’s main demands, and they’re not the only thing Epic has gotten today.
Donato's permanent injunction also prohibits Google from engaging in any other practices deemed anticompetitive. We will continue to update this story with more details.
In December, more than three years after Epic Games filed its lawsuit alleging illegal monopoly on its app stores, The jury delivered its verdict, declaring that Google had turned its Google Play Store and Google Play Billing service into an illegal monopoly.
After a few hours of deliberation, the jury answered yes to all questions: Google has monopoly power in the Android app distribution markets and in-app billing services, Google engaged in anticompetitive practices in these markets, and Epic was harmed by these actions. It also found that Google’s tying of its app store and payment services is illegal, and that its distribution agreements, Project Hug agreements with game developers, and contracts with device manufacturers are anticompetitive.
According to the site StatCounter This is the market share of different mobile operating systems in September 2024
- Android 71,85%
- iOS 27,6%
- Samsung 0,34%
Google believed its deals with game and handset makers would keep third-party app stores, primarily Amazon's, at bay.
Fortnite was first released in 2017. It is an action-packed survival game that offers several game modes, including Battle Royale, Save the World and Creative.
- Battle Royale: Up to 100 players are dropped onto an island where they must scavenge for weapons, resources, and items while trying to be the last ones alive. The playing area shrinks over time due to a gradually closing in storm, forcing players to face off against each other. Players can play solo, in duos, or in groups.
- Save the World: In this mode, players work together to fight against armies of enemies called "Husks" controlled by artificial intelligence. Players can build defensive structures, search for resources, craft weapons, and upgrade their characters as they progress through the game.
- Creatives: Players build their own worlds and experiences by establishing scenarios, rules and objectives that can be shared with other players.
It is not clear how this story will end, but as long as the monopolies fight each other and we get a little more freedom of choice, it is certainly good for us. Although, I would have preferred a mechanism like the one the European Union demanded from Microsoft to combat the Internet Explorer monopoly, where the user could choose a store at the time of configuration.
