New cause for Epic Games.
There is no peace for Epic Games who is now facing a lawsuit from Google, claiming that the company has violated the agreement with the developers of the Play Store when it implemented an update to Fortnite some time ago, allowing users to purchase items in-game while at the same time being able to bypass the commission that Google takes from in-app sales.
The lawsuit states that, unlike Apple’s App Store, Android users are not required to use the Google Play Store and that “Epic made money unfairly at Google’s expense“for this reason. As part of the lawsuit, it has also been argued that Google has no problem with Epic releasing a version of Fortnite on Android devices using a non-Google Play purchasing system, provided that this is done outside of the boundaries of the Play Store.
Google stated in the lawsuit: “Consumers and developers don’t have to use Google Play, they choose to use it when they have the choice between Android app stores and distribution channels. Google supports this choice through Android itself, Google Play policies, and Google’s agreements with device developers and manufacturersWith this in mind, Google is seeking compensation for the total amount lost by users who bypassed the Play Store fee.
The lawsuit is separate from the one in which Epic is involved with Apple. Stay tuned with us for more updates on this.
Source: ZDNET