Fortnite developer accuses Google of paying companies to protect its domain in the app market

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The company “Epic Games”, the developer of the game “Fortnite”, accused Google of “entering into contracts with various companies to strengthen its control over the application distribution market”.

Epic Games said in the California complaint that Google “is trying to protect billions of dollars in revenue”.

Epic takes on Apple and Google, which dominate the global mobile application market, forcing application developers to use their download platforms (Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store), in addition to other mobile systems. very high commissions (30%).

Unlike the iPhone manufacturer, Google allows you to rely on alternative stores.

However, the company that developed “Fortnite” is trying to prove this is not true and to confirm that “Google’s” “Android” operating system is no more open than its competitor, “iOS”.

Epic Games indicated in its lawsuit that “Google has placed contractual barriers to competition, recognizing that the group could lose billions of dollars if the distribution of Android applications were open to competition and that competing stores, including the Epic Store, they are making progress. ” .

Epic’s lawyers base their arguments on documents they recently obtained as part of a court case that began a year ago when the game’s developer tried to evade Apple and Google app stores.

“Fortnite” was immediately excluded from the two platforms, but remained available to users of smartphones with the “Android” system (84% of the total number of mobile devices in the world) thanks to alternative platforms, including the game site.

In the lawsuit, the company noted that Google had entered into agreements with other companies to “reduce the risk that other popular game developers no longer prioritize using Google Play to distribute their products.”

The American giant, according to documents that Epic Games relied on, believed that $ 6 billion in Play Store revenue and $ 1.1 billion in profits would be “at risk in 2022”.

The company has filed similar lawsuits in Europe and Australia, accusing it of exploiting its dominant position.

He is awaiting a verdict in the Apple trial in May in Oakland, California, USA.

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