Google Gets Temporary Relief In Epic Games Lawsuit, Play Store To Remain Closed To Competitors For Now

A federal judge in California has approved Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL request for a temporary stay on a court order mandating a revamp of its Play Store.

What Happened: On Friday, U.S. District Judge James Donato gave the green light to Google’s plea to postpone the restructuring of its Android app store, reported Reuters.

The original order, issued on Oct. 7, was a result of an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the company behind “Fortnite.”

However, the judge rejected Google’s plea to suspend the order throughout its broader appeal in the case.

The delay enables the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review Google’s separate appeal to suspend the judge’s order.

Google welcomed the ruling, expressing satisfaction with the decision to temporarily halt the implementation of “dangerous remedies demanded by Epic.”

Epic Games dismissed the ruling as a procedural step and accused Google of leveraging “fear-mongering and unsubstantiated security threats” to retain control over Android devices, the report noted.

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Why It Matters: The lawsuit by Epic Games led to a jury verdict last year that Google had illegally monopolized the way consumers download apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.

Google has already appealed these antitrust findings to the 9th Circuit.

Previously, Google contended that the injunction would pose “serious safety, security, and privacy risks” to the Android ecosystem.

The tech giant also argued it cannot be classified as a monopolist because Play Store competes directly with Apple’s App Store.

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