US SC Clears Way for Google Store Reforms in Epic Games Antitrust Case

The US Supreme Court declined to halt key parts of a judge’s order requiring Alphabet’s Google to make significant reforms to its Play Store, as the company prepares to appeal a ruling in a lawsuit brought by Fortnite maker Epic Games.

 

The justices rejected Google’s request to temporarily freeze parts of the injunction won by Epic in its case accusing the tech giant of monopolising how consumers access apps on Android devices and pay for in-app transactions.

 

A federal appeals court in July upheld the judge’s sweeping order against Google.

 

The injunction, issued last year by US District Judge James Donato, requires Google to allow users to download rival app stores within its Play Store and make Play’s app catalogue available to competitors. Those provisions are set to take effect in July 2026.

 

The judge also directed Google to permit developers to include external links in apps, enabling users to bypass Google’s billing system. That part of the injunction is due to take effect later this month.

 

Google said in a statement that while it was disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision, the company would continue with its appeal.

 

Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney said on social media platform X that, from later this month, app developers would be “legally entitled” to direct Google Play users to out-of-app payment options without fees or other “friction”.

 

Judge Donato issued his order in a lawsuit that Epic filed in 2020, alleging that Google’s restrictive app store rules breached antitrust laws. Epic won a jury trial in San Francisco in 2023. Google has denied any wrongdoing.

 

Google has described Donato’s order as unprecedented and warned that it could cause reputational harm, safety and security risks, and place the company at a competitive disadvantage if allowed to proceed.

 

In its Supreme Court filing, Google said the mandated changes would have far-reaching consequences for more than 100 million US Android users and 500,000 developers. The company plans to submit a full appeal to the Supreme Court by October 27, which could allow the justices to hear the case during their nine-month term that began on Monday.

 

Epic, meanwhile, accused Google of relying on “flawed security claims” to justify its control over Android devices, urging the court to let the injunction stand “so consumers and developers can benefit from competition, choice and lower prices”.

 

In July, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction, stating that the record in Epic’s lawsuit was “replete with evidence that Google’s anticompetitive conduct entrenched its dominance”.

 

Google also faces separate lawsuits from government agencies, consumers and commercial plaintiffs challenging its search and advertising practices.

 

 

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