Written by: Haim Ravia, Dotan Hammer
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a jury verdict and a permanent injunction against Google in Epic Games, Inc.’s antitrust lawsuit. Epic initiated the suit after Google removed its Fortnite game from the Google Play Store for non-compliance with its terms, which mandated Google’s payment-processing system and a 30% commission.
The jury concluded that Google violated both federal and California antitrust laws. Specifically, Google was found to have willfully acquired or maintained monopoly power in the Android app distribution and in-app billing services markets, unreasonably restrained trade, and unlawfully tied the use of the Play Store to Google Play Billing. The relevant geographic market was defined as worldwide, excluding China.
The affirmed three-year injunction, issued on July 31, 2025, prohibits Google from certain anticompetitive arrangements, such as sharing revenue to disadvantage rival app stores or entering restrictive deals with OEMs. It mandates allowing app developers access to alternative app billing, pricing, and distribution channels, including “catalog sharing” (allowing third-party stores to access the Play Store’s catalog) and permitting the distribution of third-party app stores through the Play Store itself. Google is allowed to charge “reasonable fees” for “reasonable measures” to ensure security, and a Technical Committee was established to oversee implementation. The court found these remedies to be a “reasonable method of eliminating the consequences of [Google’s] illegal conduct” and its “unfairly enhanced network effects”.
Click here to read the U.S. federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Epic Games v. Google.
