Epic Games sues Google for kicking Fortnite out of the Play Store

[Aron]

 

Epic Games' Fortnite has been kicked out of the Play Store as well after it was removed from Apple's App Store a few hours ago. Now, the game studio has filed a lawsuit against Google for engaging in a "monopolistic behavior".

Google's decision to boot the game from the Play Store came after Epic released an update to Fortnite that violates the platform's payments policy. That update allows players to pay Epic directly for in-app purchases instead of using Google's official system. Apps and games are required to give 30% of any transaction that goes through the Play Store (and the App Store).

Epic has retaliated by suing Google. In its complaint, the studio claimed that Google's policy is detrimental to both developers and consumers since it allows the search giant to act as a "mandatory middleman in every in-app transaction". Epic also filed a lawsuit against Apple for the same incident. Interestingly, in both lawsuits, Epic Games makes it clear that it is not seeking any monetary relief from the companies.

That said, Fortnite remains available for download on Android via the official Epic website. In a statement, Google said it remains open to negotiating with Epic in order to bring the game back to the Play Store. Last month, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney criticized Apple and Google over what he described as monopolistic and anti-competitive policies of their respective stores.