The producer of Fortnite advances its crusade against Big Tech.
Epic Games, the Fortnite developer, is taking Google to court in Australia. This seems to be the latest l;legal battle in the company’s war against Big Tech hegemony.
Last summer, Epic sued both Apple and Google in the US to force them to restore their Fortnite app in their respective app stores.
Epic this week filed a case with Australia’s Federal Courts. Now they are accusing Google of holding a “near-monopoly” over the app distribution and payments in the Android market.
Epic claims that Google imposes an excessive array of restrictions on the developers it works with. This, they claim, creates a de facto monopolistic power. The requirements that Google imposes on its partners violate Australia’s competition laws, according to Epic.
“Australia, Free Fortnite.”
Epic published an official statement about the case this week on their website. In it, they claim that Epic is simply “continuing its pursuit for fairer digital platforms globally.”
Epic alleges that Google’s anti-competitive conduct breaches the Australian Consumer Law. They also claim it violates various sections of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). The filing states that Google abuses its control over the Android operating system. This, they say, restricts competition in payment processing and app distribution on the Google Play Store. “This harmful conduct stifles innovation, reduces consumer choice and inflates prices,” according to Epic.
Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney also weighed in. “Google gives the illusion of being open by making arguments about the presence of alternative app stores on its platform or allowing direct downloading of apps from third party providers, but in reality these situations are so rare that they barely make a dent in the monopoly of the Android OS,” he said.
This is the latest battle in a worldwide war
This claim in Australia complements Epics other legal proceedings already underway in the US and UK. The company also has an antitrust complaint filed against Apple in the European Union.
Epic is not seeking damages from Google or Apple. The games developer is simply “seeking fair access and competition that will benefit consumers and developers”.
Related: Epic Games takes Apple legal dispute to EU antitrust watchdogs
16 minutes ago
