Francis Mascarenhas/REUTERS
- The Supreme Court denied a bid to stay parts of an antitrust ruling affecting Google’s Play Store.
- The Play Store would need to allow third-party downloads and have other payment options.
- Epic Games won a suit against Google in 2023, and the company has appealed at least twice since.
Google’s Play Store is in for an overhaul.
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied Google’s bid to temporarily block parts of a lower court ruling in its legal fight with Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite.
The Alphabet-owned company had sought to pause orders from the Northern District Court of California that required it to open its app ecosystem to rivals, stop restricting third-party downloads, and allow developers to steer users toward cheaper payment options outside Google’s billing system. For Android users, this would mean being able to access apps directly from developers outside the Play Store, at price points chosen by the developers themselves.
The justices did not comment on why they denied Google’s request.
The dispute stems from a 2020 lawsuit in which Epic Games sued Google, alleging that the company was running an illegal monopoly over its Android app download restrictions and in-app payments.
In December 2023, a California jury ruled in favor of Epic Games, finding that Google’s policies for the Play Store violated antitrust laws. US District Judge James Donato then ordered Google to open Android to competing app stores and allow developers to use their own billing systems for a period of three years.
In July, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that verdict. In September, Google filed a stay, requesting that the ordered remedies be put on hold while the company works on filing a full appeal with the Supreme Court by October 27.
The Supreme Court’s rejection of Google’s request means that the lower court’s orders must be implemented by October 22. The changes will remain unless Google’s full appeal to the Supreme Court is successful.
Apple and its App Store also faced a similar case from Epic Games, which resulted in similar remedies. The iPhone maker has now lost its latest appeal to pause these remedies in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Some of these changes, such as allowing links to external payments, have already been implemented.
Google, Epic Games, and the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to requests for comments.