Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, won a key US court battle against Google on Monday, when a jury determined that the search engine giant has an illegal monopoly over its Android app store.
Epic filed a lawsuit against Google and Apple in 2020, alleging the tech titans of abusing control of their respective mobile app stores.
Google and Apple take a share of all financial transactions that occur in their app stores, prompting developers to complain about an unjust “tax” imposed by the corporations.
The result is a rare setback for a US tech titan in a US court, where judges have previously ruled in favor of big business against charges of illegal monopolies or market power abuse.
The San Francisco jury decided against Google in just a few hours, ruling that the corporation had engaged in a variety of illegal practices to maintain its app store monopoly on Android phones.
“Victory over Google! After four weeks of detailed court testimony, the California jury found against the Google Play monopoly on all counts,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said on X (formerly Twitter).
The matter has now been returned to the court, who will decide how to cure the injury discovered by the jury, which might force the Android operating system to open up to other app shops.
Google stated that it would appeal the ruling, and that the litigation might continue for months or years.
“We will continue to defend the Android business model and remain deeply committed to our users, partners, and the broader Android ecosystem,” said Wilson White, Google’s vice president for government affairs & public policy.
Phones using the Android operating system account for over 70% of the global smartphone market.
Smartphone manufacturers can install the Android app for free if the Play app store remains on the home page and other Google services are pre-installed.
During the trial, it became clear that Google worked hard in other ways to ensure that the Google Play app store was the sole method to pay for third-party apps like Fortnite and other games.
Video games account for a big portion of app store revenue, and Epic Games has long pushed to have payments for its mobile games, such of Fortnite, take place outside of the Google or Apple app stores, which charge commissions of up to 30%.
Epic had previously lost a similar case against Apple, in which a US judge found heavily in favor of the iPhone maker.
‘Bribe and block’
Apple and Google frequently claim that their app store commissions are industry-standard, and that they pay for services like reach, transaction security, and malware detection.
Google also claimed that the agreement with smartphone manufacturers helped Android-powered handsets compete with Apple’s iPhone.
However, the trial revealed that Google earns tens of billions of dollars from the app store.
To maintain its one-stop shop for apps, Google gave smartphone manufacturers a portion of its earnings in exchange for the Play store staying the sole gateway.
In the trial, Epic’s lawyers described the strategy as “bribe and block.”
Epic’s arguments were similar to Google’s other landmark case before a federal court in Washington.
In another lawsuit, which will not be decided until late next year, US Justice Department officials accuse the business of behaving illegally to maintain its world-leading search engine’s dominance.
Google’s substantial revenue sharing partnerships, in which Apple and other smartphone makers take a large cut of Google’s ad revenue, are at the heart of the search dispute.