Epic Games Settles with Google Worldwide

Epic Games and Google announced today that they have settled their years-long antitrust worldwide. As a result, Google will open up Android worldwide, allowing competing app and game stores and dramatically lower fees for in-app payments.

“Android has always driven innovation in the industry through its unique flexibility and openness,” Google president Sameer Samat writes on Twitter. “At this important moment, we continue to be at the forefront of how developers distribute their apps and games on billions of devices globally … We are also excited to announce that we’ve resolved all our disputes with Epic Games globally!”

Epic Games and Google announced in November that they had reached a settlement agreement in Epic v. Google, but that agreement had to be approved by U.S. District Court Judge James Donato, who had handed Google one of the most damaging and one-sided antitrust defeats in U.S. history back in October 2024. Apparently, that approval has arrived.

Under the terms of the settlement, Google will allow developers to use their own billing systems alongside Google Play billing and/or to guide users outside their app/game and to the web for purchases. It will ease the process for those that wish to create their own app and game stores on Android by dramatically simplifying the installation flow, while allowing the same sideloading experience that developers were already using. And it will lower fees across the board. Those that use Google Play billing will now pay 5 percent fees instead of the old 15/30 percent fee structure. For first-time installs of new apps and games, Google will charge a 20 percent fee on in-app purchases, though developers who join a new Apps Experience Program will pay lower 15 percent fees.

“This is a significant evolution, and we plan to share additional details in the coming months,” the Android Developers Blog explains. “To make sure we have enough time to build the necessary technical infrastructure, enable a seamless transition for developers, and ensure alignment with local regulations, these updated fees will roll out [between June 2026 and September 2027 worldwide].”

“Google is opening up Android all the way with robust support for competing stores, competing payments, and a better deal for all developers,” Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted. “So, we’ve settled all of our disputes worldwide. THANKS GOOGLE!”

Sweeney also noted that Fortnite will return to Google Play Store worldwide soon, while the Epic Games Store will continue supporting Android worldwide alongside the Windows and Mac versions of the store. Installing the Epic Games Store on Android will become much easier later in 2026, he adds.