Epic Games has raised no objections to the rollout of Google’s United States Play Store remedy, according to legal reporting from MLex. The development follows ongoing antitrust litigation and a series of legal battles over how mobile application stores operate within the American market.
The Google Play Store Remedy Timeline
Under this court-ordered framework, the Google Play Store is scheduled to begin carrying third-party app stores within the United States starting July 22, 2026. This adjustment aims to increase visibility for lesser-known alternatives to the Play Store, creating a more level competitive landscape regarding software distribution and platform fees.
The underlying legal dispute, known as In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation, originated from a 2020 lawsuit filed by Epic Games as part of its “Project Liberty” campaign. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney argued that Google maintained an unlawful monopoly over Android app distribution, restricting consumer choice and creator freedom. In late 2023, a federal jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Epic Games, finding that Google’s store policies and payment requirements violated antitrust laws.
Injunction Terms and Restrictions on Google
The 2024 injunction applies specifically to Google, its parent entities, and its subsidiaries within the United States.
- Google cannot share Play Store revenue with any entity that currently distributes or plans to distribute Android apps or rival app stores.
- The company is barred from conditioning payments, revenue shares, or service access on an app launching first or exclusively on the Google Play Store.
- Google cannot condition access on agreements requiring apps to omit features available on competing platforms, nor can it force developers to use Google’s proprietary billing service.
- The tech giant cannot prohibit the distribution of third-party app stores on its platform, though it retains the right to measure the security and legality of competing stores and charge standard platform fees for their usage.
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