Epic Games was just awarded another relevant victory in court against Google, paving the way for the return of the Epic Games Store for Android to Google Play.
The announcement was made by Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney himself on X (formerly Twitter.
Sweeney claimed “total victory” and then mentioned that the store will return to Android’s main app store, also reminding that the Epic Games Store could already be sideloaded on Android via Epic’s own website.
“Thanks to the verdict, the Epic Games Store for Android will be coming to the Google Play Store! It’s already available worldwide from our web site, http://epicgames.com.
Epic Games Store for PC already carries several other PC stores (http://itch.io, GOG Galaxy).”
The timeline from the return of the Epic Games Store to Google Play was not mentioned.
The verdict arrived earlier today from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Judges affirmed the previous jury verdict resulting in a District Court’s permanent injunction against Google.
You can find a summary of that verdict below.
“The jury found that Epic had proven the relevant product markets for Android app distribution and Android in-app billing services and a relevant geographic market of “worldwide excluding China.” The jury also found that Google violated both federal and California antitrust law by willfully acquiring or maintaining monopoly power in those markets, unreasonably restraining trade, and unlawfully tying use of the Play Store to Google Play Billing.
The district court entered a three-year injunction that prohibits Google from providing certain benefits to app distributors, developers, original equipment manufacturers, or carriers in exchange for advantaging the Play Store.”
The Judges of the Court of Appeals decided that injunction was supported by the jury’s verdict as well as the district court’s own findings, and rejected Google’s counterclaims.
The injunction that the Court of Appeals affirmed restricts Google from “prohibit[ing] the distribution of third-party Android app distribution platforms or stores through the Google Play Store,” which means that now the publisher of Fortnite is free to put its Epic Games Store on Google Play and Google has to let that happen.
This follows another court win by Epic Games against Apple, which paved the way for the return Fortnite to iOS.
