Google achieved a significant victory in its legal battle with Epic Games by postponing the implementation of the decisions taken regarding the Android application store. The lawsuit filed by Epic Games against Google started a process that questioned the technology giant’s dominance over the Play Store. Epic Games filed a lawsuit in 2020, claiming that Google’s app store paved the way for monopolistic practices. During the course of the case, the court ordered Google to make certain changes to the app store. However, Google managed to delay the implementation of these changes.
With this new decision taken in 2024, the beginning of this process has been stopped for now, although Google will need to make more space for third-party application stores on Android devices. Google appealed to the court, arguing that these changes could lead to security risks and postponed the implementation of the regulations in the Play Store. This temporary postponement decision allowed Google to wait for the appeal process and eliminated the obligation to change Play Store policies for a while.
The appeal process and possible developments between Epic Games and Google
Although the court’s temporary stay order buys time for Google, it is not a complete solution. Google has filed an appeal against the decision that the Play Store has a monopolistic structure, and it is thought that this process may take several years. This delay poses a significant obstacle for Epic Games and other third-party application developers. Epic Games, in particular, argues that more competition should be created on Android devices.
However, the court did not back down on its decisions to limit some of the advantages Google offers to application developers. For example, the ban on Google’s agreements with carriers and device manufacturers blocking rival app stores will come into force as of November 2024. Accordingly, Google will not be able to offer financial incentives to manufacturers to prevent rival stores from being pre-installed on devices. This ban will be valid until 2027.
These developments may have long-term consequences in the mobile application ecosystem. In particular, integrating third-party stores into Google Play can increase competition and provide app developers with more options. Microsoft and Epic Games’ plans to bring rival stores to Google Play may remain suspended for a few more years with this postponement decision. Google will continue to follow a strategy of protecting its existing regulations and user security policies in this process.
On the other hand, such antitrust cases are seen as part of efforts to limit big tech companies’ control over the market. Increasing regulatory pressure on the activities of technology giants, especially in the USA and the European Union, indicates that such cases will continue in the coming period.
What results Google will get from the appeal process is among the issues that will be followed closely in the industry. If the court rejects Google’s demands, the company will have to make more radical changes to its app store policies.