Epic Games scored a major victory against Google on Monday, with a California jury unanimously ruling that the tech giant is abusing its monopoly in the mobile app market, to the detriment of developers.
“Victory against Google! », Launched on X (ex-Twitter) Tim Sweeney. The boss of the publisher of the phenomenon game Fortnite battle for more than three years against Google and Apple, which dominate the global mobile economy.
“After four weeks of detailed testimony, jurors found against Google Play’s monopoly on all counts. The court’s work on retaliatory measures will begin in January. Thank you all for your support ! Free Fortnite! “, he added.
The jurors in fact agreed with Epic Games on all points: according to them, Google has a monopoly on the market for the distribution of applications on Android (Google’s mobile operating system) and on that of payment services. in applications.
They believe that Google acted in an anti-competitive manner in these markets, that Epic suffered damage as a result of this behavior and that the link between the Google Play application store and its payment service (Google Play Billing) is illegal.
“Today’s verdict is a victory for all app developers and consumers around the world. It proves that Google’s practices [sur le marché des applis mobiles] are illegal and [Google] abuses its monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation,” Epic Games said in a statement released afterwards.
“We intend to contest the verdict,” responded Wilson White, a vice president of Google, in a statement sent to the press.
“Android and Google Play offer more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform. The trial made it clear that we are in fierce competition with Apple and its App Store, as well as the app stores on Android devices and game consoles,” he continued.
United States against Google
The studio of Fortnite savors his victory all the more since he lost an important round in 2021, during his trial against Apple for the same reasons.
A US federal judge had ordered the iPhone manufacturer to authorize an alternative payment system within the App Store, but also found that Epic had failed to prove that Apple was violating copyright law. competition.
And Google’s defeat comes in an already difficult legal context for the American group: the United States accuses it of maintaining a monopoly on the search engine market. A historic trial took place this fall, the verdict of which is not yet known.
Epic accuses Apple and Google, via their Android and iOS mobile operating systems, of requiring application developers to use their download platforms (the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store) as well as than their payment systems, and making them pay commissions that are too high (30%).
“In 1998, when Google was founded, it was a fascinating young company with a single motto: “Don’t Be Evil”, (“Don’t be malicious”) emphasized Epic’s lawyers in the introduction to the 2020 complaint.
“Twenty-two years later, Google has relegated its currency to the background and is using its size to harm competitors, innovators, customers and users in a multitude of markets it has come to monopolize,” according to them.
“Contractual barriers”
In Washington, prosecutors used similar arguments. They accuse the Californian group of having built its empire not thanks to its popularity but through illegal exclusivity contracts with companies like Apple and Samsung, so that its search engine is installed by default on their devices and services.
Apple and Google regularly argue that the commissions are of a standard level in the industry, and that they ensure the security of the payments system, in particular.
Unlike the iPhone maker, Google allows alternative stores. But according to the publisher of Fortnite, this is an illusion, and the Android mobile operating system is hardly more open than iOS.
Epic Games accuses its opponent of having entered into contracts with different companies to lock its hold on the application distribution market.
“Google has erected contractual barriers to competition […] by recognizing that the group risked losing billions of dollars if the distribution of Android apps was ever opened to competition and that competing stores, including an “Epic Store”, managed to “gain ground”, assures the studio in his revised August 2021 complaint.