{"id":714134,"date":"2026-01-23T00:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T00:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/714134\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T00:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T00:08:16","slug":"is-this-the-end-of-epic-and-googles-feud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/714134\/","title":{"rendered":"Is this the end of Epic and Google\u2019s feud?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Today, I am sitting in the courtroom that may decide the fate of Android. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is here. Google Android boss Sameer Samat is here. Together, they\u2019ll try to convince Judge James Donato that they\u2019re no longer enemies \u2014 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23994174\/epic-google-trial-jury-verdict-monopoly-google-play\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google\u2019s illegal monopoly<\/a> on Android app stores can be resolved with a mutual settlement instead of the consequences the judge had ordered. And I\u2019ll be posting anything interesting I hear live <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23945184\/epic-v-google-fortnite-play-store-antitrust-trial-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in this Verge StoryStream.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Now, Epic and Google are giving Judge Donato two different options. If he approves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/policy\/813991\/epic-google-proposed-settlement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the settlement<\/a> as-is, Google will agree to reduce its app store fees globally, not just in the United States, making app development a better job prospect around the world, and create a Registered App Stores program where rival app stores could make it onto Android without gobs of friction \u2014 but where those stores might still be under Google\u2019s thumb and have to pay complicated fees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">If Donato doesn\u2019t, Google seems to be threatening <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atheverge.com\/news\/848540\/google-app-fees-external-link-downloads-alternative-payments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an alternative<\/a> that app makers and the court may like a whole lot less: if developers want to avoid Google\u2019s payment systems, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atheverge.com\/news\/848540\/google-app-fees-external-link-downloads-alternative-payments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they must immediately enroll<\/a> in rigid new Google programs where they pay Google multiple dollars per app download in exchange for only slightly lower app store fees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">But Donato was publicly skeptical of the settlement, and that Google and Epic are \u201csuddenly BFFs,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law360.com\/technology\/articles\/2408618?nl_pk=a4dd786a-ea8b-4092-84a1-cee4c3265be5&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=technology&amp;utm_content=2408618&amp;read_main=1&amp;nlsidx=0&amp;nlaidx=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Law360\u2019s Bonnie Eslinger reported<\/a> in November. So now, he\u2019s hauled the \u201clead negotiators\u201d of the settlement into court to explain further. That\u2019s Epic CEO Tim Sweeney himself, Google\u2019s Android boss Sameer Samat, Epic\u2019s expert witness in economics (and Stanford professor) Doug Bernheim, and Google regulatory affairs director Lara Kollios.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Don\u2019t watch this specific post for updates: instead, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23945184\/epic-v-google-fortnite-play-store-antitrust-trial-updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click through to our StoryStream<\/a>. It\u2019s not likely the judge will approve the settlement today, but who knows!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, I am sitting in the courtroom that may decide the fate of Android. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[867,46,326,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-714134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-google","9":"tag-policy","10":"tag-tech","11":"tag-technology","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115941507427033480","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}