Epic and Google Agree to Settle Antitrust Case

Epic Games and Google have agreed to settle their five-year-old antitrust case, pending approval from U.S. District Court Judge James Donato.

“Google has made an awesome proposal, subject to court approval, to open up Android in the U.S. Epic v. Google case and settle our disputes,” Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted. “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. 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.”

“Exciting news!” Google president of Android Sameer Samat tweeted in return. “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. If approved, this would resolve our litigations. We look forward to discussing further with the Judge on Thursday.”

In their joint legal filing, Epic and Google explain that the proposed settlement would retain the prohibited behaviors required by Judge Donato’s sweeping October 2024 final ruling. That is, Google will allow third-party app stores and in-app payment systems on Android without friction or additional fees, and it can’t share revenues with would-be app store competitors to prevent them from entering the market, and so on. In this sense, the settlement “achieves the same goals” as Judge Donato’s ruling, and it would retain the three-member dispute resolution technical committee he required.

But the settlement also goes further than the ruling in several important ways. The changes will apply worldwide, and not just in the United States. They will remain in effect for at least six and a half years and not just for three years. Most dramatically, perhaps, Google will lower its fee structure from 30/15 percent to 20/9 percent for those times in which purchases are made through the Play Store or Google’s in-app payment system. And Google will also certify that alternative app stores and payment systems are safe, and this may explain the recent changes that Google announced to Android app sideloading.

“The parties believe this remedy offers meaningful benefits to developers, including the certainty of lower prices that begin promptly and last through 2032,” the filing notes. “This provision would also resolve a significant area of disagreement between the Parties with respect to the Existing Injunction.”