Google just lost an appeal against opening up Google Play to Epic Games and others — what this means for you
The ruling comes from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the most important part of it is that the Google Play Store needs to lift restrictions that make it harder for rival app stores to operate. Android may be a more open system than iOS, in terms of app installation, but the strict app store policies were never exclusive to Apple.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has praised the ruling, claiming that it would allow Epic to distribute its own Epic Game Store via Google Play. Essentially, this means you won't need to sideload the alternative app store.
Bloomberg notes that the ruling also allows developers to set up their own billing systems, rather than filtering everything through Google Play, which involves paying Google commission on each transaction.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh said that increased third-party billing systems are the bigger problem for Google — estimating that it could be "a $1-$1.5 billion drag on the company's gross profits."
Google is not particularly happy about the ruling, naturally. "This decision will significantly harm user safety, limit choice, and undermine the innovation that has always been central to the Android ecosystem," said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president for regulatory affairs.
"Our top priority remains protecting our users and developers, and ensuring a secure platform as we continue our appeal.
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From the sounds of things, this isn't the end of Google's fight, and it's likely that Google will be taking the appeals process further, and to the Supreme Court.
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