Game over for Google? Appeals court upholds Epic’s antitrust win

Be on the lookout for the Epic Games Store, as it should appear on the Google Play Store soon. After losing its appeal of a judge’s order, Google will now have to overhaul its app store policies. This includes letting third-party app stores onto its platform.

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided (via Bloomberg) to uphold the ruling from the original Epic v. Google lawsuit. This decision found the Play Store and the tech giant’s payment systems to be monopolies. As a result, Google will have to follow the remedies from that antitrust case. These remedies include limiting the company’s ability to pay phone makers to preinstall the Play Store, allowing developers to use other payment systems, and opening up Android to third-party app stores.

This decision comes after Google won a temporary administrative stay in 2024. However, Google was still forced to stop making deals with other phone manufacturers that prohibited shipping hardware with non-Google app stores installed.

After the ruling was handed down, Google’s VP of Regulatory Affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, provided the following statement:

This decision will significantly harm user safety, limit choice, and undermine the innovation that has always been central to the Android ecosystem. Our top priority remains protecting our users and developers, and ensuring a secure platform as we continue our appeal.

Developers Alliance Board Chair Jake Ward echoes the sentiment that Google offered. In a statement sent to Android Authority, Ward said:

The Ninth Circuit has spoken — and apparently, building a secure platform that sparks innovation is now grounds for punishment. By upholding the District Court’s remedies, the court has handed Apple complete dominance of the app market on a silver platter.

 

These misguided remedies will not promote competition or help consumers, but will jeopardize the trust and value that developers find in the Android ecosystem. Forcing Google to distribute third-party app stores on Google Play and allowing developers to link to unsecure destinations creates security concerns that will undermine consumer trust in Android.

 

In an unsettled economy, developers need support and stability — not judicial overreach that introduces new risks and barriers to success.

Meanwhile, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney praised the decision, claiming “total victory” on X (formerly Twitter). He followed that social post with another that announced that the Epic Games Store for Android will now be coming to the Play Store due to the verdict.