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Google and Epic Games have long been in a legal battle, but the Mountain View giant recently lost the lawsuit, which marks a significant move given how it would reshape the Android ecosystem. A U.S. appeal court upheld a December 2023 verdict about Google’s Play Store maintaining an illegal monopoly. As a result of this ruling, the tech giant is required to bring some major transformations in its app ecosystem and has only two weeks to open the Play Store to third-party billing and app stores in the U.S. version. The change was meant to begin on July 31st and aimed to shake the company’s longstanding grip on Android’s app distribution, but amidst the request for a stay, it would see a delay.
Google forced to open Play Store after Epic Wins, but the legal pushback reveals a reluctant shift
For years, Google has controlled how the apps are distributed and monetized through its Play Store. Due to this strategy, the company has been able to keep 30 percent commissions on in-app purchases. Epic filed a lawsuit after Fortnite was removed for not abiding by the rules, which resulted in a pivotal legal win for the video game developer and forced Google to give more freedom. The tech giant is now officially on the fourteen-day clock, having been mandated by the court to allow third-party billing systems and alternative app stores on Android.
However, Google is not embracing the change willingly and graciously. It is pushing back the court order by filing for an emergency stay to either delay or overturn the mandated changes until its appeal is reviewed. Google focuses on the fact that it only has weeks to implement the required change and that it could disrupt not only its Play Store operations but also developers’ attempts to bypass its payment system, costing it quite a lot in terms of revenue.
Google also emphasizes that the consequences are not limited to money; prompt compliance could pose some serious threats to Android’s ecosystem by causing security and user experience risks. It further highlights how opening the door to freedom could compromise the company’s key safeguards since the current framework was not designed to handle controls this quickly and could erode protections in place.
Critics suggest that Google’s request for a stay has more to do with maintaining its dominant position than preserving user safety. On the other hand, this is a sure win for Epic Games and other developers. While the emergency stay has been granted, as reported by The Verge, giving Google temporary breathing space, it delays the immediate obligation by a few weeks and does not save it from the reckoning of Android’s walled garden.