Google Will Have to Open the Play Store to Competitors After Loss in Epic Games Case

The app store environment just got a little more competitive following a decision by a U.S. judge that will force Google to open up its Play Store to competitors for three years.

It's Epic Games' latest victory in its four-year antitrust battle with Google. Thanks to the most recent verdict by Judge James Donato in California, starting in November, Google will have carry third-party Android app stores in the Play Store and grant third-party app stores full access to Google Play's catalogue of apps.

Epic won a number of other measures as well. Beginning on November 1, 2024, for three years, Google will no longer be able to pay companies to launch apps first or exclusively through the Play Store; pay companies so they will not compete with Google Play; require Google Play Billing for apps distributed on the Google Play Store; or offer incentives to pre-install Google Play on new devices, among other changes.

Google and Epic Games will form a three-person technical committee, chosen jointly by the two companies, to review any issues in regards to Google's compliance.

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney celebrated the verdict on X/Twitter on Monday, writing, "The Epic Games Store and other app stores are coming to the Google Play Store in 2025 in the USA - without Google's scare screens and Google's 30% app tax - thanks to victory in Epic v Google."

Big news! The Epic Games Store and other app stores are coming to the Google Play Store in 2025 in the USA - without Google's scare screens and Google's 30% app tax - thanks to victory in Epic v Google.https://t.co/1g6uuw1CJB— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) October 7, 2024

Shares of Google parent company Alphabet sank more than 2% in trading on Monday in the wake of the news.

Google, however, has announced that it will appeal the decision, arguing in a blog post that "these changes would put consumers’ privacy and security at risk, make it harder for developers to promote their apps, and reduce competition on devices." The company is asking the courts to pause Epic's requested changes pending the appeal.

“Ultimately, while these changes presumably satisfy Epic, they will cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device makers,” Google claims.

Epic originally sued both Google and Apple in August 2020 after it attempted to get around the storefronts' fees by offering a new direct payment system in Fortnite, resulting in the game getting yanked off both app stores. Epic's battle against Apple has been pointedly less successful than the one against Google, with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear from either side in the antitrust battle earlier this year.

Thumbnail credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.