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Information: A Tentative Settlement of the Antitrust Litigation involving Google Play. Litigation Released in the media

Sep 17, 2023

On the. 6th of June, a first agreement was reached through an action filed by the state legislatures of the 37 U.S. states against Google's Google.

Here are the top information about the situation and the implications to companies offering digital products via Google's U.S. Play Store.

   What is exactly the Google antitrust lawsuit?  

In Utah v. Google, 37 attorneys general maintain that Google uses illegal, anticompetitive or illegal business practices which hinder competition, raise costs and make it difficult to decide on a decision which harms customers purchasing games or other digital items in Google Play. Google Play store.

The lawsuit was filed by Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, the lawsuit focuses on "exclusionary actions relating to Google Play Store to Android," with actions like shutting down different application distribution channels and mandating the use of Google Billing (with up to 30% of the commission transferred to Google).

The suit is led by AGs from New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee as well as The 37 AGs represent 21 million people affected by the suit.

What is the latest development within the Google antitrust trial?

The settlement was announced. However, the specifics are not publicized. It is still necessary for the court to agree to the settlement. However, the parties who are in the agreement (including Utah's AG) have asked that the planned Nov. 6 trial be canceled. place.

Google has claimed that it's not responsible and is awaiting to make any comments on this incident.

There's no timeframe for the date when information will be released. But, as this is a collective action and a lawsuit, the details will become available when the lawsuit has been resolved.

   What does it mean for game developers and app creators who are from the US or other countries?  

If the conditions of the settlement include relaxing the existing Play Store restrictions and the obligation to utilize Google Billing which is a payment option, it could be an enormous win for game and app developers seeking to broaden the way they promote their app through less costly direct-to-consumer techniques like .

In an announcement posted via Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes' website, the 30 percent Google commission "is more than the proportion that people would have to be paying if they had option of choosing the Google competitor." The lawsuit claims Google isn't keeping its promise that it will declare Android "open free source" so that device makers and app developers could create and design apps without restrictions.

The impact of this settlement is not known until specifics of the settlement have been official made public.

What's the deal about Apple?

You may be aware the story of Epic Games' case against Apple regarding similar concerns. In the wake of in which Epic granted Fortnite players the option to pay via its own payment method, giving them discounts and additional benefits, both Apple as well as Google have taken down Fortnite from their app stores. Epic then sued both Apple and Google in two separate suits.

In April of this year, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals made a decision in the Apple appeal. The court came to conflicting conclusions. The court sided with Apple and concluded that the App Store is not in violation of Federal Antitrust Laws. They also backed an earlier decision by the lower court which had sided with Epic and ruled that Apple's prohibition on allowing developers to direct customers to different payment methods other than the App Store did not violate the state's Unfair Competition Law.

Epic submitted a petition to Epic submitted a petition to the U.S. Supreme court to allow the injunction to become effective as well as to make it mandatory for Apple to modify its App Store policy even when Apple has not yet decided to appeal against the decision. However, in August the SCOTUS rejected Epic's appeal and advised that the new policy may not be applied until the appeals process has been concluded.

Epic isn't part of the Utah v. Google case, because they're in their own legal battle (with Match Group) against Google. The chief executive of Epic Tim Sweeney posted on social media the day before "If Google is ending its payment monopoly without the need to implement the Google Tax on third-party transactions We'll then settle and join Google to begin their new phase of."

   can help game creators with direct-to consumer payments in addition to subscriptions?  

Additionally, our products include an online platform which offers the JavaScript Store Builder Library to get you in the running quickly for integration into an app or game.

   More Info  

The Utah Attorney General's website has more resources related to the issue.

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