Epic Games vs. Google: The Show‑down on the Play Store
Picture this: You’re scrolling through the App Store, expecting a new game to pop up, but the Fortnite buzz appears outside Google’s realm. That’s because Epic Games, the brains behind the wildly popular battle royale, plotted a clever escape route in 2018.
How Epic Wiggled Out of the Google Trap
- 2018: Epic launched Fortnite on its own website and struck a deal with Samsung Electronics.
- Why it mattered: By sidestepping Google’s Play Store, Epic avoided paying the dreaded 30% fee that can be as steep as a haircut for a top model.
- The fallout: Google freaked out—what if other giants copied this trick? It warned that a wave of alternative stores could wipe out about $1.1‑billion in annual profits.
Epic’s Antitrust “Ouch” on Google
Epic filed a lawsuit last year, accusing Google of building “unlawful hurdles” to keep the Play Store king‑pin. Meanwhile, Google insists the claim is a mistyping of normal business talk and says there’s no trial yet.
Fresh – Unredacted – Details Revealed
The court finally pulled back the curtain:
- 2022 Risk: Google warned that, if Epic’s distribution hack spread, the company risked losing up to $6 billion in Play revenue and a gut‑shaking $1.1 billion in profit.
- Google’s Counter‑Move: In 2019, it rolled out the “Premier Device Program.” Basically, Google paid phone makers like LG, Lenovo & Motorola a sweet 12% of its search earnings (compared to the traditional 8%). It also gave them a chunk—between 3%‑6%—of Google’s Play spend.
- “Project Hug”: For about two decades, Google poured hundreds of millions of dollars into marketing and perks for over 20 top developers. By the end of 2020, most of those folks happily signed on.
The Bottom Line
Google swears the new deals were a masterpiece at preventing the “contagion” of Play Store evaders. Epic’s raid? Still on the docket, with the hopes of a courtroom showdown yet to be scheduled. At least for now, the Battle Royale saga continues—this time with more paperwork and a lot more pizza‑flavored excitement.
