Be looking out for the Epic Video games Retailer, because it ought to seem on the Google Play Retailer quickly. After dropping its enchantment of a decide’s order, Google will now must overhaul its app retailer insurance policies. This consists of letting third-party app shops onto its platform.
Immediately, the Ninth Circuit Court docket of Appeals determined (through Bloomberg) to uphold the ruling from the authentic Epic v. Google lawsuit. This choice discovered the Play Retailer and the tech large’s cost techniques to be monopolies. Consequently, Google must comply with the cures from that antitrust case. These cures embody limiting the corporate’s means to pay telephone makers to preinstall the Play Retailer, permitting builders to make use of different cost techniques, and opening up Android to third-party app shops.
This choice comes after Google gained a short-term administrative keep in 2024. Nonetheless, Google was nonetheless compelled to cease making offers with different telephone producers that prohibited delivery {hardware} with non-Google app shops put in.
After the ruling was handed down, Google’s VP of Regulatory Affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, offered the next assertion:
This choice will considerably hurt person security, restrict selection, and undermine the innovation that has all the time been central to the Android ecosystem. Our high precedence stays defending our customers and builders, and guaranteeing a safe platform as we proceed our enchantment.
Builders Alliance Board Chair Jake Ward echoes the sentiment that Google provided. In a press release despatched to Android Authority, Ward mentioned:
The Ninth Circuit has spoken — and apparently, constructing a safe platform that sparks innovation is now grounds for punishment. By upholding the District Court docket’s cures, the court docket has handed Apple full dominance of the app market on a silver platter.
These misguided cures is not going to promote competitors or assist customers, however will jeopardize the belief and worth that builders discover within the Android ecosystem. Forcing Google to distribute third-party app shops on Google Play and permitting builders to hyperlink to unsecure locations creates safety issues that can undermine shopper belief in Android.
In an unsettled economic system, builders want assist and stability — not judicial overreach that introduces new dangers and boundaries to success.
In the meantime, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney praised the choice, claiming “complete victory” on X (previously Twitter). He adopted that social publish with one other that introduced that the Epic Video games Retailer for Android will now be coming to the Play Retailer as a result of verdict.
