For three years, developers have a chance to reshape the Play Store for the better for users.
Epic Games won in the Google vs. Epic Games lawsuit. A permanent injunction was issued by the US Judge James Donato in California on Monday.
Google is forced to open Play Store to competitors, giving users alternatives for downloading apps. Not only that, but the ruling will also allow more developers to get a cut in the market share of the Play Store.
Starting November, for three years, Google will not be allowed to:
- Pay companies to launch apps exclusively or first on Google Play.
- Pay companies so they do not compete with Google Play.
- Pay companies to preinstall Google Play on new devices.
- Require app makers to use Google Play Billing, or prohibit app makers from telling their users about cheaper online goods on their website (Google Play takes between 15% and 30% of in-app purchases as a fee from large app makers).
- Google will also have to permit competing Android app stores to access Google Play’s catalog of apps.
- Google will have to carry third-party Android app stores on its Google Play app store.
A three-person committee is also demanded by the filing and it will be formed between Google and Epic Games. The committee will review technical issues associated with Google’s compliance.
Google, meanwhile, said it will ask the court to pause the changes and appeal the court’s decision. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that developers, manufacturers, and others have three years to “build a vibrant and competitive Android ecosystem.”
