Google is looking to settle its legal dispute with Epic Games.
In lieu of taking the matter before the US Supreme Court, Google is now proposing a reduction in developer app store fees from 20% to 9%, depending on the nature of the transaction. As part of its bid to put to bed its battles with the developer behind Fortnite, the company is also promising to introduce official support for alternative app stores like the Epic Games Store from the next version of Android onward. Google typically releases new major updates for Android around June each year, with premium devices like the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Pixel 10 Pro usually first in line.
If successful, the proposed settlement would put an end to years of legal drama between the two companies. The saga originally kicked off back in 2020, when Epic rolled out an update to Fortnite that enabled players to bypass Google's payment infrastructure. Google responded by banning the mobile version of the popular battle royale shooter and Epic fired back by filing its lawsuit the same day.
After the matter finally made it before a judge in late 2023 and early 2024, Google was forced to allow rival app stores into the Google Play Store. The company was also compelled to distribute its own apps like Gmail and Google Drive on those other app stores and barred from requiring Android app developers to use Google Play Billing as a payment processor.
Even so, that ruling only applied in the United States and would expire in 2027. In contrast, Google’s proposed remedy would apply worldwide and persist through to June 2032.
“Starting with a version of the next major Android release through June 30, 2032, Google will modify future versions of the Android operating system so that a user can install a Registered App Store from a website by clicking on a single store install screen using neutral language. This will also grant the permission to the store to install apps,” the proposal reads.
Although this settlement does need to be approved by the same judge responsible for last year’s ruling, early signs suggest that both parties are feeling positive about it.
Over on X, Google’s President for Android Sameer Samat said that the proposed changes would expand developer choice, lower fees and encourage competition without compromising user safety.
“If approved, this would resolve our litigations,” he said.
In response, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called the proposal “awesome” and said that it doubles down on Android's original vision as an open platform.
“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,” he said.
Fergus Halliday
Digital Content Editor
Related Articles
