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Information: A Tentative Settlement of the Google Play Antitrust Litigation Publicized -

Sep 17, 2023

On the. 6th, an initial agreement was struck through an action filed by the 37 U.S. states against Google's Google.

Below are the most important facts about the issue and the implications to companies offering products that are digital through Google's U.S. Play Store.

What is exactly the Google antitrust lawsuit about?

In Utah v. Google, 37 attorneys general maintain that Google utilizes illegal, anticompetitive or unlawful conducts of business which hinder competition, drive up costs, and make it difficult to make a choice that harms consumers purchasing games or other digital items in the Google Play store.

Led by Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, the lawsuit focuses on "exclusionary actions relating to Google Play Store to Android," with actions including shutting down alternative application distribution channels and mandating to use Google Billing (with up to 30% of commission being paid towards Google).

The suit is led by AGs from New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee as well as The 37 AGs comprise 21 million of the people involved in the lawsuit.

   What is the latest development within the Google antitrust case?  

The settlement was disclosed However, the specifics were not made public. It is still necessary for the court to agree to the settlement, but people who have been part of the settlement (including Utah's AG) are asking that the scheduled November. 6 trial should not take place.

Google has claimed that it is not guilty, but is yet to make any comments on this incident.

There's currently no timeline on when data is likely to be made public However, since this is a collective action, it's likely that the information will be available once the lawsuit is resolved.

 What is it for game developers and app creators 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 method, it will be a huge win for app and game developers seeking to broaden the way they sell their apps by making use of less costly direct-to-consumer techniques like .

As per an announcement posted on Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes' website, the 30 percent Google commission "is greater than the percentage that consumers would pay if they had the ability to choose one of Google's rivals." The lawsuit asserts Google hasn't kept its word that it would declare Android "open source" in order that device makers and app developers could make and develop apps with no limitations.

The full impact of the settlement is not known until details of the settlement are officially announced.

What's the deal with Apple?

Perhaps you're aware of Epic Games' case against Apple in relation to similar issues. Following the time when Epic gave Fortnite gamers the ability to pay using its own payment method, giving them discounts and other benefits, both Apple and Google have taken down Fortnite from their app stores. Epic then sued both Apple as well as Google in two separate lawsuits.

This past April, a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided in the Apple appeal, with conflicting conclusions. They sided with Apple in concluding that its App Store does not violate Federal Antitrust Laws. They also backed an earlier ruling by the lower court that was in favor of Epic and ruled that Apple's ban on allowing developers to send customers to other alternatives to pay through the App Store violated California's Unfair Competition Law.

Epic filed a petition with Epic filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme court to permit the injunction to be effective as well as to require Apple to alter its App Store policy, even though Apple has not yet decided to appeal the ruling. But in August, the SCOTUS rejected Epic's appeal and suggested that the changes may not be applied until the appeals process is concluded.

Epic isn't part of the Utah v. Google case, as they're involved in their own case (with Match Group) against Google. However, Epic's chief executive Tim Sweeney posted on the social networks on the same day "If Google is ending its payment monopoly, without having to implement the Google Tax on third-party transactions We'll then settle and join Google in their new period of."

Can it assist game developers with direct-to-consumer payments as well as subscriptions?

In addition, our services come with an online platform that offers the JavaScript Store Builder Library that will get you up and running for quick integration into your app or game.

 More Information

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

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