After waiting for about three years, Epic Games finally won its battle with Google. A Federal Grand Jury declared that Google had exercised an illegal monopoly on its store.
The ruling also included findings that the tech giant abused the relationship between its app store and Google Play Billing service. Including agreements regarding game distribution with Activision, Ubisoft, Square Enix and others which are monopolistic in nature, as reported by Game Station from Kotaku, Thursday (14/12/2023).
So that means, from the results of the trial, it was revealed that they had made secret agreements with smartphone companies and game publishers. Here, Google reportedly spent billions of dollars on Activision and others, to keep it from launching its own app store.
That way, they can continue to maintain their dominance in the Android market. That’s the maneuver Google is trying to do against Epic and Riot Games.
But Judge James Donato has not yet decided which law should be applied. Meanwhile, he is still thinking about how to take the right steps to fix this problem.
It is known that both parties will meet again with the Judge in the second week of January. The aim is definitely to discuss how to resolve this illegal monopoly case.
But on the other hand, Wilson White, Google Affairs and Public Policy VP, said his party plans to appeal. According to him, the trial made it clear that his company only competed fiercely with Apple and the Apple Store.