Tim Sweeney Says Some People Called Him 'Conspiracy Theorist,' But Now They Know The Truth About Google

On Tuesday, a federal jury gave a verdict in favor of Fortnite-parent Epic Games in an antitrust lawsuit against tech behemoth Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google. Now, Tim Sweeny says he knew about most of what Google was doing “behind the scenes.” 

What Happened: In this landmark ruling, the jury determined that Google illegally monopolized Android app distribution and Google Play billing system, marking a win for Epic Games and developers worldwide and the first significant antitrust ruling against a tech company since the ’90s.

Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, has been leading this legal charge against the tech giant’s control over app distribution. In an interview with The Verge, Sweeney expressed satisfaction with the verdict, stating, “It was just awesome to see that the justice system works, even with the most complex type of tech antitrust case that you can possibly throw at a jury.” 

See Also: Will Epic Games Introduce Nintendo Characters To Fortnite In The Future?

He also said the trial confirmed his suspicions about Google’s behind-the-scenes practices.

“I’d suspected a lot of the practices that Google had, you know, since 2018 or so when we first started this, to such an extent that some folks would occasionally call me a conspiracy theorist,” he said, adding, “It was really, really interesting to see that my understandings of what Google was doing behind the scenes were actually true.”

The Epic Games CEO also shed light on Google’s “Project Hug,” an effort to incentivize developers to launch their apps on Google Play rather than their stores. 

“Google’s Project Hug was an astonishingly corrupt effort at a massive scale — the same corrupt deal structure they tried to do with Epic when they wanted to pay us off to launch Fortnite on Google Play and not launch our own store,” Sweeney stated. 

He also criticized Google’s preferential treatment of Spotify Inc. SPOT, allowing it to process payments and keep all revenue — a luxury not afforded to smaller developers.

Sweeney expressed optimism that the verdict would lead to stricter antitrust scrutiny of other tech giants, including Apple Inc. AAPL, against which they’d lost a similar lawsuit before. “I think Apple should be receiving at least as harsh antitrust scrutiny as Google.“

Why It’s Important: This judgment is the latest development in a lawsuit initiated by Epic Games three years ago, which claimed that Google wielded its power to maintain a monopoly over the Play Store, similar to Apple’s control over its iPhone app store. 

Google, like Apple, imposes a 15-30% commission on digital transactions within apps. The trial spanned four weeks, during which the jury unanimously decided that Google’s Play Store, used by hundreds of millions globally, had unfairly exploited antitrust barriers. 

Photo Courtesy: Tada Images On Shutterstock.com

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This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.