Google‘s $700 million antitrust settlement offered no true relief for consumers or developers, says Epic Games‘ VP of public policy Corie Wright.
All 50 US states had brought an antitrust case against Google over alleged market dominance, with a settlement agreed back in September. The details of the deal have now come to light, seeing Google pay a $700m fee and make some tempoary changes to its Google Play store.
These include, but are not limited to, allowing publishers to promote their web stores, without links, and use alternate billing systems, though Google will continue to charge a platform fee
“Unlawful and anticompetitive behaviour”
Though some concessions have been made by Google, Fortnite developer Epic Games has expressed its displeasure with the limited scale of the punitive measures against Google and has released a public statement on the matter.
The company recently won its own case against Google, with a jury determining the tech giant does indeed have an illegal monopoly over Android app billing and distribution
“The state attorneys general settled with Google before trial to get a one-time payout with no true relief for consumers or developers,” said Epic Games VP of public policy Corie Wright.
“After originally seeking $10.5 billion in antitrust damages identified as Google’s unjustly collected fees, the states attorneys general settled for a $700 million payout.
“Consumers will continue to overpay for digital goods as a result of Google’s imposition of supracompetitive 30% fees for Google Play Billing or 26% junk fees on top of payments Google isn’t involved in processing. Developers will also continue to be restricted in how they distribute their apps, and developers who choose to use a third-party payment option will be forced to use Google’s deceptively labelled ‘user choice billing’ system rather than having creative freedom over the design of their payment systems.
“In Epic v Google, a jury unanimously found that Google violated the antitrust laws in its dealings with developers, potential competitors, and OEMs. The States’ settlement does not address the core of Google’s unlawful and anticompetitive behaviour.
“In the next phase of the case, Epic will seek meaningful remedies to truly open up the Android ecosystem so consumers and developers will genuinely benefit from the competition that US antitrust laws were designed to promote.”
Since Epic’s win in its own Google battle, CEO Tim Sweeney has been hopeful to see the end of the “ridiculous 30% fees” Google imposes on Android.
