Epic wins court case against Google: users in the US will be able to download third-party stores from the Play Store

A US court has recognized Google Play as an illegal monopoly and ordered it to allow third-party distribution and provide competing stores with access to the full catalog of Google Play applications. This court case was initiated by Epic. This was reported by The Verge.

The court's decision is temporary and will be in effect from November 1, 2024, until November 1, 2027. Google was ordered to stop requiring Google Play Billing for applications distributed in the Google Play Store. Allow Android developers to tell users about other payment methods in the Play Store and place links to downloads from third-party resources.

In addition, Google is prohibited from encouraging developers to distribute their applications in the Play Store in any way.

Google will still have some control over the protection and security of users. The court decision states that Google may "take reasonable measures" that are "strictly necessary and highly specialized" and consistent with the measures the company is currently taking. Google will also be able to charge a fee for such control.

Epic has repeatedly argued that Google should not be able to restrain third-party app stores through "policing" measures, so it is likely that Epic and Google will continue to argue over this issue.

The judge gave Google 8 months to develop a system where a three-person technical committee, jointly selected by Epic and Google, will review any disputes.

Epic didn't get everything it asked for: the company wanted the commitment to last 6 years, not 3; the implementation of one-touch app downloads; and for Google to limit the ability to tie the Android API to Google Play.

Google says that these changes will have "a number of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers, and device manufacturers." It looks like the company is going to appeal. Meanwhile, Epic is celebrating its victory:

“The Epic Games Store and other app stores are coming to the Google Play Store in 2025 in the USA — without Google’s scare screens and Google’s 30% app tax — thanks to victory in Epic v Google,” said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.