Add Epic Games Inc. to Google\u2019s antitrust trial case load.<\/p>\n
The maker of the popular videogame \u201cFortnite,\u201d which battled Apple Inc. GOOG, \u201cWe\u2019re fighting for consumer and developer freedom to do business directly, free of monopoly stores, monopoly payment processors and monopoly taxes,\u201d Epic Games Chief Executive Tim Sweeney tweeted.<\/p>\n \u201cIn-app transaction prices are inflated by up to 30% by Google fees, versus 3% payment processing fees in competitive markets,\u201d Sweeney added.<\/p>\n The suit \u2014 which comes as Google nears the conclusion of its historic antitrust showdown with the Justice Department, which claims the search-engine giant abused its power \u2014 does not seek financial compensation, but changes to Google\u2019s practices.<\/p>\n A parade of bold-faced executives dot a witness list of more than 50 people, including Google and Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai; Google and Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat; Epic CEO Tim Sweeney; and Andy Rubin, one of the co-founders of the Android operating system. Rubin is listed as a \u201cmay call\u201d witness, which means it\u2019s possible he won\u2019t take the stand.<\/p>\n Two other Android co-founders, Nick Sears and Rich Miner, could be called by Google. Epic also listed Activision Blizzard Inc. CFO Armin Zerza. Microsoft Corp. Epic\u2019s major beefs are that Google quietly paid game developers hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to keep their games on the Play Store \u2014 and covered up evidence by moving online conversations to Google Chats, where they were destroyed.<\/p>\n Hostilities between the two companies sparked in 2018, when \u201cFortnite\u201d for Android first launched, and Epic took the unusual step of releasing it exclusively outside the Google Play Store, allowing Epic to bypass Google\u2019s onerous 30% commission fee. <\/p>\n Epic eventually released its popular game on the Play Store in April 2020, until it was removed by Google after Epic added a feature that let consumers sidestep Google\u2019s fee, spurring a flurry of lawsuits.<\/p>\n Epic\u2019s strategy so spooked Google, Epic claims, that the company launched a program called \u201cProject Hug\u201d to ensure other developers would stick with the Play Store.<\/p>\n Project Hug, later called the \u201cApps and Games Velocity Program,\u201d paid developers hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to keep their games on the Play Store, according to an unredacted complaint\u00a0from Epic. By late 2020, Google had signed deals with <\/strong>about two dozen companies, including Activision, which was paid an estimated $360 million, to stay on the Play Store.<\/p>\n Wilson White, vice president of government affairs and public policy at Google, called Epic\u2019s lawsuit \u201cmisguided\u201d and \u201chypocritical.\u201d He said Epic\u2019s claims \u201cseek to undermine\u201d Google\u2019s app store, which he said offers a flexible, secure digital platform for all developers and 2.5 billion users in nearly 200 countries.<\/p>\n \u201cEpic simply wants all the benefits\u201d without paying for what he said is the lowest-fee major app store. Indeed, Epic charges its developers more on its platform, White added.<\/p>\n Wilson posted additional thoughts on the company\u2019s blog.<\/p>\n \u201cGoogle Play competes with other app stores on Android devices and on rival operating systems for developer attention and business,\u201d a Google spokesman said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019ve long had\u00a0programs\u00a0in place that support best-in-class developers with enhanced resources and investments to help them reach more customers across Google Play. These programs are a sign of healthy competition between operating systems and app stores and benefit developers tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n As Epic and Google near their first day in court, a similar case is nearing its conclusion: The Justice Department is taking aim at Google\u2019s dominant search-engine business in Washington, D.C. <\/p>\n The government\u2019s antitrust case has honed in on what Google did to maintain its search and search ads monopolies, and how those allegedly illegal practices harmed consumers and advertisers.<\/p>\n The most egregious tactic is that Google spent billions of dollars to maintain its search-engine monopoly on mobile and web browsers, including $26.3 billion in 2021, according to a DoJ exhibit. Justice Department lawyers said Google paid Apple Inc. On Monday, Pichai said the intent of his company\u2019s practice of paying Apple and other tech companies to make Google the default search engine was to make the user experience \u201cseamless and easy.\u201d<\/p>\n Match Group Inc. Epic\u2019s legal team is closely watching the DoJ trial, but not basing its strategy on it.<\/p>\n As for a previous Epic action against Apple, there are interesting parallels between the two high-profile cases. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are similarities with one key difference: Apple is famous for its closed loop and Google has taken steps to pay people,\u201d Abiel Garcia, a former deputy attorney general for California\u2019s Department of Justice, said in an interview. <\/strong>\u201cIn some ways, it is a harder argument for Epic to make.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Epic went to court with Apple in 2020 over the iPhone maker\u2019s stranglehold over the App Store and a commission fee of up to 30% for digital goods and services sold through the App Store.<\/p>\n
\n AAPL,
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\n in federal court on similar grounds in 2021, is set to open arguments in a jury trial expected to last several weeks starting Nov. 6 in San Francisco. It claims Alphabet Inc.\u2019s
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\n Google Play Store restricts competitors from directly distributing their own apps, and instead forces them to have their apps installed via the Play Store.<\/p>\n
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\n recently completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision.<\/p>\nThe DoJ-Google lawsuit<\/h2>\n
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\n and other tech platforms more than $10 billion a year.<\/p>\n
\n MTCH,
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\n a former partner of Google, claims Google illegally monopolizes the market for distributing apps by only offering apps that exclusively use its own in-app payment processing product, Google Play Billing, which charges developers up to 30% in commission fees. On Tuesday, Match said it had settled its differences with Google.<\/p>\n