{"id":259797,"date":"2023-11-12T17:12:37","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T16:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/es\/?p=313947"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:41:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T00:41:26","slug":"fortnite-against-google-the-trial-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/fortnite-against-google-the-trial-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortnite against Google: the trial of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few years ago, Epic Games faced off against Apple in South Korea. There, they tried to convince the judicial system that Tim Cook&#8217;s company had a monopoly on the smartphone industry. If you wanted to be on an iPhone, you had to pay a fee.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Fortnite\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-m\/p\/0725c9ce-2e53-43a3-b740-39e0f5c20693\/3874670110\/fortnite-Download-Fortnite.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Fortnite<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/fortnite.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/fortnite.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if Epic couldn&#8217;t prove that Apple&#8217;s walled garden of iOS is a monopoly, <strong>how could Google, a much more open system, fare worse against the developer of Fortnite? <\/strong>The battle began three years ago and now it&#8217;s coming to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Analysts believe that<strong> Epic Games is likely to win<\/strong>. Now that both parties have presented their initial arguments to a jury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2023\/11\/7\/23949849\/epic-google-trial-day-one-recap-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">The Verge<\/a>, while Google spent most of its first day trying to explain the complex intricacies of the business, Epic was able to paint a black-and-white picture of good and bad, with itself as the clear loser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nineteen Eighty Fortnite Apple Trailer! Watch it here\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fHLuKumkASg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Android, the monopoly no one talks about<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Epic&#8217;s lead attorney, Gary Bornstein, argued that Android functions as an illegal monopoly. <strong>He essentially labeled Google as a bully and cheater who &#8220;bribes&#8221; or &#8220;blocks&#8221;<\/strong> any attempts to compete with Android&#8217;s Google Play store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>And what&#8217;s the result?<\/strong> A status quo where the vast majority of Android app installations come from Google Play, with only a small portion attributed to the Galaxy Store preinstalled on Samsung phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bornstein showed the jury members graphics of Google&#8217;s hefty profit margins (<strong>a 70% cut from annual revenues of $12 billion, according to Epic<\/strong>) and pointed out several unsavory ways Google allegedly tried to prevent anyone else from taking a share of that money. This included paying game developers not to create their own app stores or independent app launchers, similar to what Epic did with Fortnite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Epic vs. Google: a battle over Fortnite fees goes to court <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1BG9gWTNsd\">https:\/\/t.co\/1BG9gWTNsd<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Winson Tang (@winsontang) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/winsontang\/status\/1721723698594595304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 7, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Google pays real and potential competitors not to compete. They literally give them money and other valuable things,&#8221; said Bornstein. &#8220;It&#8217;s like Google saying, &#8216;Here&#8217;s $360 million, why don&#8217;t you stay out and let me win?'&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The result for consumers<\/strong>, as indicated by previous lawsuits by Epic, <strong>is that we pay higher prices for apps than we would if there were more competition<\/strong> or if app store and payment processing fees were lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, although this is likely to be addressed later in the trial, <strong>Epic chose to focus more on portraying Google as the villain from day one<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s unclear to what extent these claims will hold up under closer scrutiny. Those $360 million, for instance, refer to an alleged payment that prevented Activision from opening an app store that could compete with Google Play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/11\/18\/23466359\/activision-riot-mobile-app-stores-epic-games-google-court-filings-project-hug\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Activision told The Verge<\/a> in 2022 that they &#8220;never reached an agreement for Activision not to open its own app store,&#8221; and Google now claims to have evidence to prove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"BITS: Apple y Google contra Fortnite\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1H8gmVYrLRA?start=79&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Google is in a tough spot: they have to defend themselves however they can<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google spent its 45 minutes trying to explain that its dominance in the Android app market is not nefarious but simply <strong>the natural result of fierce competition between Google and the iPhone&#8217;s iOS App Store<\/strong>, which Google would like the court to believe is the real competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Google manages to convince the jury of this, it could be a winning argument in the case because, obviously, <strong>Google doesn&#8217;t have a monopoly on app stores or phones in general<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;You can&#8217;t separate the quality of a phone from the quality of its app store, and that means Google and Apple compete with each other,&#8221; began Google&#8217;s lead attorney, Glenn Pomerantz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Google spent a significant part of its opening statement trying to explain its seemingly questionable behavior as normal business practices and didn&#8217;t always succeed right from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<strong>When they show you these charts that show all these downloads from Play and not from the Galaxy Store<\/strong>, that&#8217;s what Samsung phone users are choosing. But they use the Play Store. There&#8217;s nothing stopping them from going to the Galaxy Store; it&#8217;s just what works for them,&#8221; he argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Epic Games vs. Google antitrust trial gets under way <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Google?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Google<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/antitrust?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#antitrust<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EpicGames?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EpicGames<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Fortnite?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Fortnite<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SKlmTj4GOa\">https:\/\/t.co\/SKlmTj4GOa<\/a> via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GamesBeat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GamesBeat<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Dean Takahashi (@deantak) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/deantak\/status\/1721603301215814092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 6, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I previously referred to Google as &#8220;comparatively open,&#8221; and this openness is likely to be heavily debated in the coming weeks. <strong>Epic Games has promised to &#8220;prove that Google has shut down every single alternative&#8221; to the Play Store during this trial<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google points to the simple fact that it allows alternative app channels, something that its Android rival, iOS, does not do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Google also tried to portray Epic as the villain<\/strong>. They did so by bringing up Epic Games&#8217; secret plan called &#8220;Project Liberty&#8221; to discreetly update Fortnite with code to bypass app store fees, get their app kicked out of Apple and Google&#8217;s app stores, and then file lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Fortnite\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-m\/p\/0725c9ce-2e53-43a3-b740-39e0f5c20693\/3874670110\/fortnite-Download-Fortnite.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Fortnite<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/fortnite.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DOWNLOAD<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/fortnite.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Analysts believe that Epic Games has the upper hand. Now that both sides have presented their opening arguments to a jury after three years of trials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9265,"featured_media":259799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[1015],"tags":[2532],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-259797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionfortnite"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316492,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259797\/revisions\/316492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259797"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=259797"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=259797"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=259797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}