A judge in San Francisco this Monday ordered the technology giant Google to facilitate the entry of competitors into the Play Store, its ‘store’ for downloading applications that comes by default on Android devices and that has been the subject of an antitrust lawsuit in recent years. years.
The order is part of the lawsuit by the video game company Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, which accused Google in 2020, and won the action in 2023, for anti-competitive practices that included paying hardware companies or Android phone manufacturers to that did not include competing ‘apps’.
The ruling by federal judge James Donato forces Google to open the Play Store to competition for three years, so that it distributes the app download platforms of other companies, and also allows these platforms to access the catalog of apps offered by Play. Store, explained the specialized media The Verge.
According to CNBC, this decision also prevents Google from paying developers to launch their apps exclusively or first with the Play Store, or from forcing the use of its charging system.
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Immediately, Google announced that it will appeal the ruling, arguing that the judge “forgets the obvious: that Apple and Android clearly compete” for consumers, which is why it has asked to pause the imposition of that ruling while the appeal is resolved.
Epic Games Store will be available on the Play Store in 2025
The executive of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, pointed out that its own app store, Epic Games Store, will be available in the Play Store in 2025 in the United States thanks to that ruling, which only applies in that jurisdiction, so “the battle legal and regulatory continues throughout the world.”
“The Google Play Store order lasts 3 years. This means that all app developers, store creators, operators and manufacturers have 3 years to build a vibrant and competitive Android ecosystem with such critical mass that Google cannot stop it,” he added.
According to analysts, the ruling could have major repercussions for Google, which like Apple – with practically a duopoly in the market – keeps between 15 and 30% of the total sales of apps on phones and tablets.
In December 2023, a jury found Google guilty of violating antitrust laws with its Play Store platform, dedicated to downloading mobile applications, which harmed the interests of video game developers such as Epic Games, as well as their users.
Google pledged to pay $700 million, make it easier for users to download apps outside of its platform and allow developers to charge users directly for their services, instead of the Play Store, which charges a 30% commission for manage payments.
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Sensor Tower, cited by CNBC, estimates the money that consumers spent on apps in 2023 at $124 million.
The ruling does not seem to have affected the shares of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) for the moment, which in secondary operations rose 0.08%.
With information from EFE
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