TL; PhD
- New court documents show that Google tried to prevent Fortnite for Android from landing on the Play Store.
- Obviously, Google calls sideloading a “terrible” and “bad” experience.
- Allegedly, Google also proposed the idea of buying part or part of Epic Games.
The ongoing court battle between Epic Games, which owns Fortnite, and Google and Apple continues to provide us with juicy behind-the-scenes information.Today, we caught a glimpse of more drama between Epic and Google (via edge).
According to these documents, Google tried to discourage Epic from not allowing Fortnite for Android to be sideloaded. First, it offered Epic a “special offer” to bring Fortnite to the Google Play store. It is speculated that this transaction will reduce Google’s application sales commissions by 30%, which is the main reason why Epic does not want Fortnite to appear on the Play Store.
You can also take a look: Here is how to install Fortnite for Android and iOS
Allegedly, Google is also trying to portray sideloading as a “terrible” and “bad” experience for users. A Google representative said that side-loading applications requires “more than 15 steps” (side-loading means you install Android applications outside of the Play Store).
Ironically, Google’s attempt to dissuade Epic from not allowing Fortnite for Android to be sideloaded is a huge boon for Epic’s case. Epic tried to argue in court that the Play Store (and the Apple App Store in another lawsuit) is a de facto monopoly. Epic believes that Google deliberately makes it difficult for publishers to succeed outside the Play Store, even if it is possible. Therefore, Google’s attempt to portray sideloading as a bad experience will only support Epic’s argument.
However, the most interesting thing is that Epic claims that Google has considered buying some or all of Epic. This seems to be an internal discussion within Google, but it has never been conducted on Epic (ie, Google has never made any offer to the company).
Who knows what other new information we will collect before these ongoing court cases pass.