Google and Epic end their feud with a deal that changes how Android works

Fortnite maker Epic Games and Google just agreed on a “comprehensive settlement” that could be the final chapter in Epic’s long battle over app store rules.

In a joint filing in a San Francisco federal court, both companies proposed a resolution to Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against Google, which the game publisher filed in 2020 along with a parallel lawsuit against Apple. 

In a post on X, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called the proposed settlement “awesome” and expressed hope that the courts would agree.

“It genuinely doubles down on Android’s original vision as an open platform to streamline competing store installs globally, reduce service fees for developers on Google Play, and enable third-party in-app and web payments,” Sweeney said. “This is a comprehensive solution, which stands in contrast to Apple’s model of blocking all competing stores and leaving payments as the only vector for competition.”

In the settlement, Google agrees to cap app store fees at 9% to 20%, depending on the transaction. Currently, Google takes a 15% cut of the first $1 million in developer revenue and 30% of anything above that threshold. Beyond lowering fees, Google also said it would allow alternate app stores to be offered officially in the next major Android update. All of the proposed changes would go into effect globally—not just in the U.S.—and remain in place through 2032.

The surprise settlement follows some resounding losses for Google. Late last year, a judge sided with Epic on many of the game publisher’s demands and ordered Google to open its app marketplace to competing third-party app stores in the U.S. for three years, a decision that stood to completely remake Android’s app ecosystem. Prior to the settlement, it looked like Google’s last hope was a Hail Mary asking the Supreme Court to take on the case—a long shot given that the court previously shrugged off Epic’s parallel case against Apple.

Epic’s epic battle

In 2020, Epic kicked off a flashy campaign to rally people against mobile software’s gatekeepers by breaking the rules of both Google and Apple’s app stores intentionally, getting Fortnite kicked off of phones and tablets in the process. In lawsuits against both companies, Epic argued that Google and Apple violated antitrust laws by forcing users to pay for apps and in-app purchases through their app marketplaces while taking a slice of every transaction. 

While Epic’s case against Apple is now mostly resolved without too much disruption to Apple’s business, the iPhone maker did land itself in hot water earlier this year when a federal judge determined that it violated the terms of a court order forcing it to give developers more freedom to accept payments.

Epic’s case against Google took a different path. After years of back-and-forth in court, Epic landed a major win over the summer when a federal appeals court upheld a jury verdict that deemed Google Play, Android’s app store, to be a monopoly. In other recent cases, courts determined that Google was operating a monopoly in its digital ads and search engine businesses.

“Together with Epic Games, we have filed a proposed set of changes to Android and Google Play that focus on expanding developer choice and flexibility, lowering fees, and encouraging more competition, all while keeping users safe,” Sameer Samat, Android ecosystem president at Google, wrote on X. He added that the company would discuss the settlement with a judge on Thursday.

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