{"id":272453,"date":"2025-11-05T06:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T06:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/272453\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T06:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T06:14:11","slug":"breaking-google-and-epic-propose-settlement-to-end-years-long-play-store-battle-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/272453\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Google and Epic propose settlement to end years-long Play Store battle in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img class=\"e_Yg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  title=\"Google Play Store on smartphone stock photo 1\"  alt=\"Google Play Store on smartphone stock photo 1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Google-Play-Store-on-smartphone-stock-photo-1.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Edgar Cervantes \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n<p>TL;DR<\/p>\n<p>Google and Epic Games have proposed a settlement to resolve their five-year-long legal dispute over the Play Store\u2019s alleged monopolization of user choice and in-app purchases.<br \/>\nBoth companies have jointly filed the proposed settlement with the court.<br \/>\nUnder the proposal, Google will allow greater flexibility for developers to distribute apps and process payments outside of Google Play, thereby also expanding choices for Play Store users.<\/p>\n<p>Google and Epic Games may finally be close to ending their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/google-loses-antitrust-case-appeal-3583077\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">long-running legal dispute<\/a> over the Play Store. Both companies have jointly filed a proposed settlement with the court, which could bring about big changes to how Android and Google Play operate in the US.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on X, Sameer Samat, Google\u2019s President of Android Ecosystem, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ssamat\/status\/1985920218602918343\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">announced<\/a> that the companies have \u201cfiled a proposed set of changes to Android and Google Play that focus on expanding developer choice and flexibility, lowering fees, and encouraging more competition \u2014 all while keeping users safe.\u201d Samat added that if approved, the proposal would resolve their ongoing litigations. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TimSweeneyEpic\/status\/1985920786545123613\" class=\"e_dl e_f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow\"><img class=\"e_Yg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"Google Epic Settlement\"  alt=\"Google Epic Settlement\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Google-Epic-Settlement.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Tim Sweeney and Sameer Samat\/X<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/andauth.co\/AAGooglePreferredSource\" class=\"e_ym\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img class=\"e_Yg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"google preferred source badge light@2x\"  alt=\"google preferred source badge light@2x\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png\"\/><img class=\"e_Yg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  title=\"google preferred source badge dark@2x\"  alt=\"google preferred source badge dark@2x\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Epic CEO Tim Sweeney also <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TimSweeneyEpic\/status\/1985920786545123613\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">wrote about the proposed changes on X<\/a>, calling Google\u2019s proposal \u201can awesome\u201d and \u201ccomprehensive solution\u201d that doubles down on Android\u2019s \u201coriginal vision as an open platform.\u201d According to Sweeney, the proposal would streamline competing store installs \u201cglobally,\u201d reduce Play Store service fees, and allow third-party in-app and web payments, highlighting all the key points Epic has long fought for all this time.<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney also took a jab at Apple, saying that Google\u2019s proposed changes stand in contrast to Apple\u2019s more closed ecosystem that \u201cblocks all competing stores.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If approved by the court, the proposed settlement could finally mark the end of one of the most prominent antitrust cases in the industry. Epic first sued Google in 2020 after Fortnite was removed from the Play Store for implementing its own payment system to bypass Google\u2019s platform fees.<\/p>\n<p>What Google and Epic Games have proposed<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/fingfx.thomsonreuters.com\/gfx\/legaldocs\/xmpjqoyrbvr\/Epic%20-%20Google%20settlement%2020251104.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">joint proposal<\/a> (via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sustainability\/boards-policy-regulation\/google-proposes-app-store-reforms-settlement-with-fortnite-maker-epic-games-2025-11-05\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Reuters<\/a>) filed by Google and Epic Games reads as follows:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEpic and Google have reached a comprehensive settlement. Among other things, that settlement would resolve this case and the separate action before this Court in Epic Games, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the proposal, Google will allow greater flexibility for developers to distribute apps and process payments outside of Google Play, both via in-app payments and external links. Additionally, Google will lower service fees on Google Play. The proposal specifies the maximum service fee Google would be allowed to charge, either 9% or 20%, depending on the type of transaction.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal now requires approval from US District Judge James Donato, who oversaw the 2023 trial in which Epic won against Google. The judge also mandated significant Play Store <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/california-judge-order-google-play-3472389\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reforms<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0<a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-authority-comment-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-stringify-link=\"https:\/\/www.androidauthority.com\/android-authority-comment-policy\/\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edgar Cervantes \/ Android Authority TL;DR Google and Epic Games have proposed a settlement to resolve their five-year-long&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[145589,168,165,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-272453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-epic-games","9":"tag-google","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}