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The Epic vs Google case just took an interesting turn with regard to the Play Store remedies that Epic proposed months ago, as Judge Donato says the walls are coming down. Epic won its case against Google back in 2023 with Judge Donato having ruled that Google was a monopoly via its Play Store app storefront. Following that ruling, Epic proposed several requests to remedy the situation. This included Google opening up the Play Store so that competing app stores could live in the Play Store ecosystem.
This open nature would allow users to choose where they get their apps and where their money goes when they need to pay for something. Google has argued that this process would take too long and cost too much money. But, Judge Donato doesn’t care.
In Judge Donato’s final hearing on remedies that took place on August 14, he said he was going to tear down the barriers. “We’re going to tear the barriers down, it’s just the way it’s going to happen,” Donato said. Donato also states that the “world that exists today is due to monopolistic conduct.” Further explaining that things are changing. The reality for Google in this sense, is that there’s nothing it can do to change Donato’s mind.
Judge Donato will rule on the Google Play Store remedies by September
While today was the final hearing on Google’s Play Store remedies, Judge Donato hasn’t yet made a final decision on what Google will need to do. The final ruling will be given “in a little over two weeks” according to Donato. That means we should know what Google is required to do soon. Likely by the first week of September since it’s exactly two weeks away.
Epic and Google also both agreed in the August 14 hearing that opening up the Play Store was doable. However, the companies disagreed on how long the process would take and what it would cost to complete it.
Epic and Google must create a committee to arbitrate the details
After Donato finalizes the ruling on what the remedies should be, that’s essentially the end of his overseeing this whole process. To an extent. Donato said he would not be micromanaging Google on meeting the remedy requirements. Instead, it will be up to Google and Epic to create a “technical compliance and monitoring committee” that will arbitrate the details of the remedy plan after Donato decides on how Google will fix what it broke. That committee will then “report back” every few months and go from there.
The committee will also be made up of one representative each from Epic and Google. A third representative that both companies agree on will also be appointed.