Epic Files New Complaint Against Google In Antitrust Lawsuit

Epic has failed a new complaint against Google in its antitrust lawsuit against the Tech company. As reported by The Verge, Epic has filed an addendum adding additional details to the lawsuit, including a number of details about Google's monopolistic behavior revealed during recent government probes.

Epic's complaint contains mostly sealed information; however, the few bits that are available to the public show that it contains more information about Google's behavior. Some of the information included details Google's relationship with Apple, like how Google pays Apple somewhere between $8 billion and $12 billion to be the dominant search engine on Apple products. The complaint also includes information about Google's relationship with phone makers and other app stores.

In the redacted complaint, Epic allegedly describes its attempt to launch Fortnite on the Samsung Galaxy store, which Google took exception to. According to the complaint, Google offered Epic a deal to get Fortnite on the Google Play Store instead, but Epic rejected the deal. The complaint alleges that Google took some anti-competitive practices following that, though the details are redacted.

Google denied some of the information in a statement to The Verge. "The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores. For game developers who choose to use the Play Store, we have consistent policies that are fair to developers and keep the store safe for users. While Fortnite remains available on Android, we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. We will continue to defend ourselves against these meritless claims," said spokesperson José Castañeda.

Unlike the Epic v. Apple trial, the Epic v. Google trial has not made it to the courtroom just yet. A proposed schedule gives Google until August 20 to file a motion to dismiss and sets a start date of October 14. Unlike on Apple phones, Fortnite can still be downloaded on Android phones via Epic's website.