Google will have to open the Play Store to competitors after losing in Epic Games case

The app store environment has just become a little more competitive following a decision by an American judge that forces Google to open its Play Store to competitors for three years.

It is Epic Games’ latest victory in its four-year antitrust battle with Google. Thanks to the latest ruling from Judge James Donato in California, Google will offer third-party Android app stores in the Play Store starting in November and grant third-party app stores full access to the Google Play app catalog.

Epic also won on a number of other measures. From November 1, 2024, Google will no longer be able to pay companies to launch apps first or exclusively through the Play Store for three years; pay companies so they don’t compete with Google Play; Require Google Play Billing for apps distributed in the Google Play Store; or offering incentives to pre-install Google Play on new devices, among other things.

Google and Epic Games will form a three-person technical committee, jointly selected by the two companies, to review any issues related to Google’s compliance.

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney celebrated the verdict Monday on app from Google. tax – thanks to the victory in Epic v Google.”

Big news! The Epic Games Store and other app stores are coming to the Google Play Store in the US in 2025 – without Google’s splash screens and Google’s 30% app tax – thanks to the victory in Epic v Google. https://t.co/1g6uuw1CJB

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) October 7, 2024

Shares of Google parent company Alphabet fell more than 2% in trading on Monday following the news.

However, Google has announced that it will appeal the decision, stating in a blog post that “these changes would jeopardize consumer privacy and security, make it more difficult for developers to promote their apps and increase competition on devices reduce.” The company is asking the court to suspend Epic’s requested changes pending the appeal.

“While these changes will likely satisfy Epic, they will ultimately create a series of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device manufacturers,” Google claims.

Epic originally sued both Google and Apple in August 2020 after it tried to circumvent store fees by offering a new instant payment system in Fortnite, resulting in the game being pulled from both app stores. Epic’s battle against Apple has been markedly less successful than its battle against Google, with the US Supreme Court refusing to hear from both sides in the antitrust battle earlier this year.

Thumbnail credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Alex Stedman is a senior news editor at IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.