Newsletter
Updated: See below the post for the update.
The monumental Google vs Epic case now has an official verdict, and it states that Google’s Play Store is operated as an illegal monopoly. The verdict was a unanimous decision between all jurors in the case, notes The Verge, marking this decision as a landmark win for Epic Games.
In contrast, Epic lost its case against Apple in which it sued the company for the very same things. But its case against Google has turned out very different because apps and distribution fees were decided to be the central part of the case. It’s not entirely clear yet what will be done now that Google is deemed to be operating an illegal monopoly within the app store market. Google will probably attempt to appeal the verdict so it can continue operating as it always has. However, the appeals process could be slow and may take a while to reach a verdict. If an appeal is even granted and goes to trial in the first place.
Prior to an official appeal filing Judge James Donato will likely decide on how Google can fix the situation. Similar to how Microsoft remedied its deal for the UK’s CMA to convince it to approve the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
Google vs Epic jury verdict: Google has monopoly power in more than one market
While the case has been primarily about the Play Store, today’s verdict includes decisions about Google’s dominance in multiple markets. Both Google’s Play Store market and in-app billing services market have been decided by the jury to have monopoly power. The jury also says Google has an illegal connection between those two markets. And that its deals with game publishers and smartphone manufacturers all work together to stifle any sort of success from competing app stores.
These deals, the jury decided, were a defining factor in its decision. At one point Google offered a large sum of money to Epic to distribute its game Fortnite on Android. As opposed to launching it on its own store outside of it. Epic declined. That was not the same for League of Legends maker Riot Games. Who reportedly took $10 million from Google in the agreed-upon deal to stop the development of its own Android store.
These kinds of deals the jury says, hurt Epic in the long run. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney estimates that Epic could have made “hundreds of millions or even billions” without having to pay Google’s fee.
Settlement talks apparently didn’t go well
While it always seemed unlikely that the two companies would come to an agreement and settle, the possibility was there. Back on December 1, Judge Donato ordered Google and Epic to have settlement talks to see if an agreement could be reached. This was with the knowledge that a verdict in the trial would need to be reached by December 11.
Considering today’s Epic win, the settlement talks apparently didn’t go well. It almost seems ironic that the two were ordered to try and reach a deal. Considering Google’s “deals” are what put the two companies in court in the first place. While this is a win for Epic now, the case is potentially far from over.
Update: December 12, 2023:
Epic has put out a statement regarding the trial verdict. Epic says ” The evidence presented in this case demonstrates the urgent need for legislation and regulations that address Apple and Google strangleholds over smartphones, including with promising legislation in progress right now with the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill in the UK and the Digital Markets Act in the EU. Thank you to the Court for hearing this important case and for the next steps in determining the remedies that will right Google’s decades of anticompetitive conduct.” You can read the full statement here.