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The Settlement Tentative is now in place for Google's Direct-to-Consumer antitrust lawsuit Posted -

Sep 17, 2023

On the evening of Sept. 6th, a tangled agreement was reached on the class action lawsuit brought in 37 U.S. states against Google's Google.

Here are the top information about the current situation as well as the implications on those who market products that are digital through Google's U.S. Play Store.

What is exactly the Google antitrust suit about?

In Utah v. Google, 37 attorneys general assert that Google employs anti-competitive, unconstitutional or unfair commercial policies which restrict competition, increase prices, and limit choices that harm consumers that purchase games and other items digitally through Google Play. Google Play store.

It was filed by Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, the suit is focused on "exclusionary actions in connection with the Google Play Store for Android," with actions such as closing down other apps distribution channels and mandating the usage of Google Billing (with up to 30% commission to Google).

The lawsuit is led by the AGs of New York, North Carolina and Tennessee as well as the 37 AGs represent 21 million of their customers involved in the case.

   What has happened in the last few days in the Google antitrust trial?  

A settlement was recently announced however, the specifics of the settlement are not yet available. The court has to accept the agreement, but people who have been part of the settlement (including the Utah's AG) want the trial scheduled for November. 6 trial be cancelled.

Google has been denying any wrongdoing however, it has not yet made a statement regarding this incident.

There's no date to when information are expected to be released, but as it's a class action lawsuit, the details are expected to be public after the lawsuit is settled.

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

If the terms of the agreement include easing the current Google Play Store restrictions and the requirement to use Google Billing which is a payment system this could result in a huge win for developers of games and apps looking to diversify how they promote their apps using less expensive direct-to-consumer methods similar to .

According to an announcement posted on Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes' website the 30% Google commission "is significantly higher than the commission that customers would have to pay if they had the ability to choose the Google's rival instead." The suit claims Google did not keep its promise that it would keep Android "open sources" in order that app developers can create and create apps with no limitations.

The full implications until the conditions of the settlement are declared.

 What's the deal with Apple?

It is likely that you have heard of Epic Games' case against Apple in relation to similar problems. In the wake of Epic announced that it would allow Fortnite players the option of paying using its own payment method and offered discounts to them, both Apple and Google removed Fortnite in their app stores. Epic later was sued by Apple as well as Google in two separate lawsuits.

The last month of April, a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled in the Apple case with mixed outcomes. They sided with Apple in determining that its App Store isn't in violation of the Federal antitrust law. They also supported the decision of a lower judge in favor of Epic in stating that Apple's ban on permitting app developers to direct users to other payment options violated the state's Unfair Competition Law.

Epic filed a petition with to an appeal to the U.S. Supreme court to allow the injunction to take effect and to force Apple to alter the App Store's policies, even though Apple is yet to challenge the ruling. However, in August the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Epic's petition and advised that changes may not be put into effect until the appeals process has been concluded.

Epic isn't a part of the Utah case v. Google case, since they're on the legal court of their own (with Match Group) against Google. The Chief Executive of Epic Tim Sweeney posted on the social network sites on social media on social media that "If Google is ending its payment monopoly, without having to impose the Google Tax on third-party transactions then we'll agree to settle and be in Google in the new age of Google."

HTML0What could it be used for help game designers with direct-to-consumer transactions and subscriptions?

Additionally, we offer the platform which offers a JavaScript Store Builder Library to aid you in getting your store ready to add JavaScript to your game app.

More Info

The Utah Attorney General's website contains various other information related to the issue.

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