Epic Games won a major victory against Google on Monday, December 11, as a California jury unanimously decided that the technology giant is abusing its monopoly on the mobile applications market, to the detriment of developers. “Victory against Google!” launched Tim Sweeney on X (ex-Twitter). The boss of the publisher of the game phenomenon Fortnite has been battling for more than three years against Google and Apple, who dominate the global mobile economy. “After four weeks of detailed testimony, jurors ruled against Google Play’s monopoly on all counts. The court’s work on retaliatory measures will begin in January. Thank you all for your support ! Free Fortnite!,” he added.
Epic accuses Apple and Google, via their Android and iOS mobile operating systems, of requiring application developers to use their download platforms (the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store) as well as than their payment systems, and making them pay commissions that are too high (30%).
The jurors in fact agreed with Epic Games on all points: according to them, Google has a monopoly on the market for the distribution of applications on Android (Google’s mobile operating system) and on that of payment services. in applications. They believe that Google acted in an anti-competitive manner in these markets, that Epic suffered damage as a result of this behavior and that the link between the Google Play application store and its payment service (Google Play Billing) is illegal. “Today’s verdict is a victory for all app developers and consumers around the world. It proves that Google’s practices (in the mobile app market) are illegal and that (Google) abuses its monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation,” Epic Games said in a published statement. in the process.
“We intend to contest the verdict,” responded Wilson White, a vice president of Google, in a statement sent to the press. “Android and Google Play offer more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform. The trial made it clear that we are in fierce competition with Apple and its App Store, as well as the app stores on Android devices and game consoles,” he continued.
The Fortnite studio savors its victory all the more since it lost an important round in 2021, during its trial against Apple for the same reasons. A US federal judge had ordered the iPhone manufacturer to authorize an alternative payment system within the App Store, but also found that Epic had failed to prove that Apple was violating copyright law. competition. And Google’s defeat comes in an already difficult legal context for the American group: the United States accuses it of maintaining a monopoly on the search engine market. A historic trial took place this fall, the verdict is not yet known.
“In 1998, when Google was founded, it was a fascinating young company with a single motto: ‘Don’t Be Evil,'” Epic’s lawyers pointed out in filing of the 2020 complaint. “Twenty-two years later, Google has relegated its currency to second place and is using its size to harm its competitors, innovators, customers and users in a multitude of markets that it s ‘is set to monopolize’, according to them. In Washington, prosecutors used similar arguments. They accuse the Californian group of having built its empire not thanks to its popularity but through illegal exclusivity contracts with companies like Apple and Samsung, so that its search engine is installed by default on their devices and services.
Apple and Google regularly argue that the commissions are of a standard level in the industry, and that they ensure the security of the payments system, in particular. Unlike the iPhone maker, Google allows alternative stores. But according to the publisher of Fortnite, this is an illusion, and the Android mobile operating system is hardly more open than iOS. Epic Games accuses its opponent of having entered into contracts with different companies to lock its hold on the application distribution market.
“Google erected contractual barriers to competition (…) recognizing that the group risked losing billions of dollars if the distribution of Android apps were ever opened to competition and that competing stores, including an “Epic Store”, managed to “gain ground”, assures the studio in its revised complaint of August 2021.