SAN FRANCISCO — A federal court jury on Monday decided that Google had violated antitrust laws to extract fees and limit competition from Epic Games and other developers on its Google Play mobile app store.
The nine-person jury in San Francisco ruled that the Android app store has been protected by “anticompetitive barriers” that damaged smartphone owners and software developers, The Associated Press reported. Jurors decided that Google had created an antitrust market with its app store, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The jury sided with Epic Games, the creator of the Fortnite video game, on all 11 questions in a trial that was the latest legal twist in a three-year battle, according to The New York Times.
Breaking: Google lost a case brought by Epic Games as a jury found the search giant had created an antitrust market with its app store https://t.co/xN0IddPHKg https://t.co/xN0IddPHKg
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 12, 2023
The jury found that Epic Games proved that Google had maintained a monopoly in the smartphone app store market, according to the newspaper. Google also engaged in anticompetitive conduct that harmed the videogame maker, the jury decided.
Judge James Donato will decide what remedies are required to address Google’s conduct early next year, the Times reported.
“If you are a smartphone maker, if you want an operating system, your only choice is Google,” Gary Bornstein, a lawyer for Epic Games, said in closing statements Monday. “This gives Google tremendous power.”
During the trial, it was revealed that Google had deleted some employee chat logs that might have included information relevant to the case, according to The Wall Street Journal. Donato told jurors to assume that the deleted information would not have been favorable to Google.
Google’s attorneys had argued that the company competed against Apple’s App Store, making it impossible to operate a monopoly, the Times reported.
Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Google three years ago, according to the AP. Google, like Apple, collects a commission ranging from 15% to 30% on digital transactions completed with apps, the news organization reported.
Google said that 99% of developers qualify for a fee of 15% or lower on in-app purchases, according to the Times.
In a similar lawsuit against Apple, Epic Games lost on several claims, The Wall Street Journal reported. However, the game developer convinced a judge that Apple should loosen restrictions on payments through its app store, according to the newspaper.
