The tech giants just took a hit as the Supreme Court refused to bail out Google in a battle over its Play Store empire.
The Hill reported that on Monday, the Supreme Court declined Google's plea to halt a lower court injunction, forcing the tech behemoth to overhaul its app store practices after losing a legal showdown with Fortnite creator Epic Games.
This saga kicked off back in 2020 when Epic Games sued Google, claiming the company was playing gatekeeper to stifle competition in the Play Store. Fast forward to 2023, and a San Francisco jury sided with Epic, delivering a stinging rebuke to Google’s app store dominance.
By 2024, a California judge slapped Google with an injunction, banning the company from paying developers or manufacturers to exclusively launch apps on the Play Store or preinstall them on devices.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this ruling earlier in 2024, leaving Google scrambling for a lifeline from the Supreme Court.
In late September 2024, Google begged the justices to block the most burdensome parts of the injunction, arguing they posed serious security risks to Android users.
The court, however, wasn’t buying it and denied the request without explanation—a typical move for emergency orders, but a bitter pill for Google to swallow.
Now, Google must gear up to distribute third-party app stores, share its app catalog with competitors by summer 2026, and allow alternative in-app payment options starting in October 2025.
Google isn’t shy about its displeasure, warning that opening up payment methods could expose Android users to fraud and malicious actors tricking them into sharing sensitive data.
“Android provides more choice for users and developers than any mobile OS, and the changes ordered by the US District Court will jeopardize users’ ability to safely download apps,” a Google spokesperson lamented. Let’s be real—while user safety matters, this sounds like a convenient shield for a company reluctant to loosen its grip on a lucrative market.
Epic Games, on the other hand, is popping champagne over the ruling, with founder and CEO Tim Sweeney crowing, “The Supreme Court has thrown out Google’s stay request.”
“Starting October 22, developers will be legally entitled to steer US Google Play users to out-of-app payments without fees, scare screens, and friction – same as Apple App Store users in the US!” Sweeney added.
While Epic paints this as a win for freedom, one wonders if this ‘choice’ will just flood the market with shady apps, leaving everyday users to navigate a digital Wild West.
Google also griped that complying with this overhaul demands immediate and massive design and engineering efforts—a fair point for a company already juggling a sprawling tech ecosystem.
Still, in a world where Big Tech often cries wolf over regulations, it’s hard not to see this as resistance to a much-needed reality check on monopolistic tendencies. After all, competition is the lifeblood of innovation, even if it stings a corporate giant’s bottom line.