On December 12, Epic Games won a major victory in an antitrust lawsuit against Google. After three years of legal battles, the jury unanimously found that Google had a monopoly on the Google Play app store and in-app payment service, Google Play Billing market, and abused that dominant position to "cause harm" to Epic Games' interests.
It is reported that the lawsuit between Epic and Google focuses on the secret revenue sharing agreement between Google and smartphone makers and large game developers. According to sources, Google executives believe that the agreements are aimed at squeezing rival app stores. At the same time, there is also evidence that Google is very concerned about Epic's competition.
In fact, Google's concerns are not unfounded. Epic was previously dissatisfied with the high percentage of Apple and Google's share, and developed its own app store, which not only gave away games at any time, but also reduced the share ratio to 12%. According to Epic Games' 2022 Year in Review, its total number of users in 2022 has exceeded 72.3 billion, with a peak of 34.3 million daily active users and a maximum of 68 million monthly active users. This number is already on par with the Steam platform, and has become a strong contender for Apple and Google apps**.
While Epic Games won the case, it's unclear exactly what it won. Judge James Donato said the appropriate remedy will be decided. However, Epic is not asking for damages, instead hoping that the court will order Google to "allow all app developers the freedom to create their own app stores and payment systems on Android." It is unclear whether the judge will grant this request.
Notably, Judge Donato has already said he will not approve the "anti-circumvention clause" requested by Epic. In addition, he said that he has no intention of deciding how much Google should charge for its products. Although Epic is not asking for compensation, it could reap hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars if it no longer has to pay Google. However, Google is likely to appeal the case.
According to public information, Epic Games is a well-known game production team, and its best-selling "Gears of War" series, "Fortnite" has been widely acclaimed, and its "Unreal" series of engines has been used by countless game production teams. On November 16, 2022, Epic Games released Unreal Engine 51 Release with a number of usability improvements.
This victory is significant for Epic Games, which lost a similar lawsuit against Apple two years ago. In August 2020, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for removing Epic's game Fortnite from the App Store.
Founder Tim Sweeney has questioned Apple's 30 percent cut of every transaction in the App Store, so Fortnite is trying to circumvent Apple's mechanics and let players pay directly in the game or reduce the percentage of the commission. As a result, Fortnite was removed from the App Store by Apple, triggering a lawsuit from Epic Games. 
In September 2021, a judge handed down the first ruling in the case, finding that Apple had won nine of the ten charges and lost only one. On April 24 of the same year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the validity of the trial judgmentDetermined that Apple's policies on the App Store did not violate the Antitrust Law.
In the only allegation that Apple lost, Apple had to allow individual development companies to place links in apps so that users could choose platforms other than the App Store to pay. However, whether this is permissible will be decided at a possible hearing later.
However, since Apple insists that the App Store has been"For security reasons".However, if it is completely closed and the payment link is opened, it may cause users to be hacked, so it is unlikely that Apple will let it go. According to foreign media reports, Apple is considering further actions, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Overall, Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple and Google is nothing more than an attempt to use the law to seek market share for their apps, but as a consumer, having one more option is not necessarily a bad thing. But judging from the current situation, the litigation disputes between Epic Games and Apple and Google will continue for a long time.
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The Fortnite developers sued Google to win