Google vs Epic: What the companies said after the decision

In an ‘Epic’ win for Epic Games, the jury handed the Fortnite maker a win, saying that Google has an illegal monopoly in the app store market. Google has monopoly power in the Android app distribution and in-app billing services markets, it said. The jury also said that Google did anti-competitive practices such as illegal deals between distribution of its services to OEMs, terming them all anti-competitive. After the decision, both the companies released statements on the decision.

Google will appeal Epic decision
A Google spokesperson said that the company plans to challenge the verdict and it offers more choice than competing platforms.

“We plan to challenge the verdict. Android and Google Play provide more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform. The trial made clear that we compete fiercely with Apple and its App Store, as well as app stores on Android devices and gaming consoles. 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 VP, Government Affairs & Public Policy, as per The Verge.

Epic says decision is a win for app developers
Meanwhile, Epic Games said in a blog that the verdict is “a win for all app developers” and “it proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal.” The company also thanked the jury for their “historic decision.”

Read Epic Games blog here:
Today’s verdict is a win for all app developers and consumers around the world. It proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and they abuse their monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation.

Over the course of the trial we saw evidence that Google was willing to pay billions of dollars to stifle alternative app stores by paying developers to abandon their own store efforts and direct distribution plans, and offering highly lucrative agreements with device manufacturers in exchange for excluding competing app stores.

These deals were meant to cement Google’s dominance as the only app store in town - and it worked. More than 95% of apps are distributed through the Play Store on Android.

Google imposes a 30% tax on developers simply because they have prevented any viable competitors from emerging to offer better deals. And Google executives acknowledged in Court that their offer of a 26% rate on third party payment options is a fake choice for developers.

This is, of course, what we know. From the CEO down, Google employees willfully re-directed sensitive conversations to chat, knowing that their contents would be deleted forever.

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 determining the remedies that will right Google’s decades of anticompetitive conduct.

And thank you to the jury for their historic decision. The one million game developers who couldn't be here thank you!

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