Starting on the 22nd, Google will allow users to download third-party app stores directly from the U.S. Play Store.
According to Reuters and others on the 16th, Google said in documents filed on the 14th (local time) with the U.S. District Court in California that it will withdraw its request to modify the final judgment in its antitrust case with Epic Games, Inc., and will allow U.S. users to download third-party app stores within the Play Store.
This effectively ends the lawsuit brought in Aug. 2020 by Epic Games, Inc., the maker of "Fortnite," which has continued for nearly six years.
In a statement, Google said it decided to withdraw the proposal "to avoid prolonging this process that creates uncertainty in the ecosystem," adding that it will continue to comply with other conditions required by the court.
Accordingly, Google must open competing marketplaces within the Play Store as originally ordered by the presiding judge in 2024. In addition, app and game listings in the United States will automatically appear in third-party stores unless developers separately opt out.
In March, Google proposed an alternative allowing replacement app stores that complete a registration process to operate on Android phones. However, Nancy Rose, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor hired by the court, noted that "installing outside the Play Store is limited in effectiveness," pointing out that most users look for apps inside the Play Store.
However, this measure is limited to the United States. Separately, Google is pushing a global Android ecosystem overhaul that eliminates the 30% fee and opens third-party app markets, and it already took effect on the 30th of last month in the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Korea and Japan will be included starting Dec. 31. Korea in 2021 became the first in the world to implement a law banning app market operators from forcing in-app payments, allowing external payments.