Google and Epic Games have been locked in a legal battle for the better part of five years. And it all started with the latter rolling out direct payments for Fortnite on Android. After the better part of five years, the two have reached a settlement that would end said legal battle. Though the companies will still have to get US District Judge James Donato to approve the proposed settlement.
For context, Judge Donato was the one who oversaw the trial between the two. Last year, the judge ordered Google to open its Play Store to competitors for three years. At the time, the internet search giant said that this will compromise user safety. If the settlement goes through, the company will still have to follow most of the judge’s orders, but with some modifications.
This entails letting “developers and users to seamlessly use alternative payment mechanisms” within apps as well as external links. This also cuts down the Play Store cut from 30% down to between 9% and 20%, depending on transaction type.
Of the settlement, Sameer Samat, Google’s President of Android Ecosystems, said that the two companies have proposed “changes to Android and Google Play that focus on expanding developer choice and flexibility, lowering fees, and encouraging more competition all while keeping us safe”. Epic Games head Tim Sweeney calls it “an awesome proposal”, which also “genuinely doubles down on Android’s original vision as an open platform”.
In context, it explains to some extent the announcement by Google back in August to only allow sideloading of apps made by verified devs. For a large company like Epic Games, this will certainly not be a problem. The issue though is the initiative running counter with what Sweeney claimed was cementing the Android vision of being open.
(Source: Reuters, Sameer Samat, Tim Sweeney)
