The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Google’s attempt to prevent mandated changes to the Google Play Store. This followed the tech giant’s loss in a lawsuit against Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, regarding its App Store practices.
The court declined to suspend several lower court injunctions that require Google to support third-party app stores on the Play Store, share its app catalogs with competitors, and enable payment methods that aren’t exclusively tied to Google’s own services.
As is common with emergency rulings, no detailed explanation was given for this decision.
Epic Games first filed a lawsuit against Google in 2020, claiming that the Play Store stifled competition. A judge in San Francisco ruled in 2023 in favor of Epic.
In 2024, a California judge enforced an injunction that prohibits Google from compensating app developers or manufacturers to restrict app launches to the Play Store or install apps by default on devices.
Following a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the injunction earlier this year, Google approached the Supreme Court in late September, asking to block elements of the ruling, claiming it posed significant security risks.
The company contended that the payment provisions set to take effect this month might expose Android users to potential threats from harmful actors seeking sensitive information.
Starting next summer, the requirement for Google to allow third-party app stores on the Play Store and share its app catalog with rivals will come into play. Google noted that it would need extensive resources for design and engineering to meet these new demands.
Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, celebrated the decision in a post on X. He stated, “The Supreme Court has denied Google’s request for a stay. Starting October 22, developers can legally give Google Play users the right to make non-app payments, just like users of the Apple App Store, without fees or complicated processes!”
Ongoing attempts to reach Google for a response were made.
