Epic just won its antitrust lawsuit against Google again

Epic has won again. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals volition not overturn the unanimous assemblage verdict from 2023 that Google’s app store and payments strategy had go amerciable monopolies. Today, that appeals tribunal affirmed the little court’s determination in Epic v. Google, according to an afloat sentiment you tin work beneath — and Google volition present entreaty to the Supreme Court, the institution confirms to The Verge.

Judge M. Margaret McKeown begins her sentiment for the court:

In the satellite of adrenaline-fueled endurance that epitomizes the video crippled Fortnite, winners are decided successful blazes of demolition and glory. By contrast, the result of this case—centered connected Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games, and the Google Android platform—turns connected longstanding principles of proceedings procedure, antitrust, and injunctive remedies.

“Total triumph successful the Epic v Google appeal!” tweets Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.

Google volition appeal: “This determination volition importantly harm idiosyncratic safety, bounds choice, and undermine the innovation that has ever been cardinal to the Android ecosystem. Our apical precedence remains protecting our users, developers and partners, and maintaining a unafraid level arsenic we proceed our appeal,” writes Google planetary of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland successful a connection shared with The Verge.

But it appears that the Google Play Store volition not beryllium protected from the consequences of its monopoly portion Google appeals to the Supreme Court — it whitethorn request to start cracking unfastened Android for third-party stores the mode that Judge James Donato ruled successful his imperishable injunction backmost successful 2024. Last October, Donato pressed intermission connected each but 1 circumstantial portion of his ruling portion Google appealed, but today, Judge McKeown writes “The enactment question connected entreaty is denied arsenic moot successful airy of our decision.”

Epic seems to deliberation that Google can’t halt it arsenic of today: “Thanks to the verdict, the Epic Games Store for Android volition beryllium coming to the Google Play Store!” Sweeney tweeted.

Epic primitively sued some Google and Apple in 2020 implicit the removal of its deed crippled Fortnite from some stores, though the lawsuit was much analyzable than that. Epic intentionally utilized Fortnite arsenic a wedge to situation the app store monopolies, and successful the lawsuit of Apple, it mostly lost.

The appeals tribunal did admit Epic’s gambit today, penning that “Google removed Fortnite from the Play Store aft Epic embedded concealed codification into the app’s software” that bypassed Google’s outgo systems. (Epic has ne'er denied it.)

But Epic v. Google turned retired to beryllium a precise antithetic case, we saw when attending the proceedings successful idiosyncratic and speechmaking each the receipts. A assemblage saw concealed gross sharing deals betwixt Google, smartphone makers, and crippled developers. The assemblage saw interior emails betwixt Google execs that suggested Google was frightened of however Epic mightiness person its chap crippled developers to articulation oregon make rival app stores, creating unwanted contention for Google. Here are a fewer thoughts astir wherefore Epic won against Google, but not Apple.

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