Google lost its appeal of a court order requiring the company to overhaul its app store in an antitrust case filed by Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Google’s claim that the trial judge made legal errors unfairly favoring Epic Games.
Epic Games initially filed the lawsuit in 2020 and successfully convinced a jury in 2023 that Google had illegally suppressed competition. In October 2023, the trial judge ordered Google to open its app store to competitors and provide Android users with more options for downloading apps. The order was temporarily paused while Google pursued its appeal.
During the appeal, Google argued that its Play Store competes with Apple’s App Store and claimed the trial judge wrongfully blocked this defense against Epic’s antitrust allegations. The appeals court, however, upheld the original ruling, leaving Google obligated to implement the required changes.