Google ordered to open Android app store in Epic Games trial

A U.S. judge issued a permanent injunction on Monday that will force Google to offer alternatives to its Google Play store for downloading apps on Android phones.

Google will also be restricted from paying fees or sharing revenue with companies in exchange for them choosing not to compete with Google's app store. Alphabet stock took a leg lower on the news and was down more than 2% Monday.

The ruling from Judge James Donato in California is the most significant outcome of Epic Games' antitrust lawsuit against Google, which kicked off in 2020. The Fortnite maker accused Google of anti-competitive practices, including paying hardware companies and Android phone makers to not develop competing app stores.

The decision could lead to developers getting a bigger share of the market, as both Google and Apple's app stores typically take between 15% and 30% of total sales for high-grossing apps. The new restrictions on Google Play may allow developers to keep more revenue by bypassing Google's rules or fees.

Consumers spent $124 billion on apps in 2023, according to Sensor Tower.

According to the filing, starting in November, for three years, Google will not be able to:

Epic Games and Google will also form a three-person committee that will review technical issues related to Google's compliance, according to the filing.

Epic Games publishes titles such as Fortnite, which are monetized through in-app purchases of character costumes and other so-called "skins," and challenged Google and Apple's contractual control of mobile app distribution in 2020 offering less-expensive purchases of Fortnite's in-game currency, violating app store rules and kicking off the lawsuits.

Epic Games prevailed over Google late last year, and Monday's filing