The Supreme Court on Monday denied Google’s request to block court-mandated changes to the Google Play Store, after the tech giant lost a case to Fortnite maker Epic Games over its app store practices.
The justices declined to halt parts of a lower court injunction requiring Google to distribute third-party app stores through the Play Store, share its catalog of apps with rivals and allow in-app payment methods other than Google Billing.
As is typical with emergency orders, the court did not offer an explanation for its ruling.
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Epic initially sued Google in 2020, accusing the company of shielding Play Store from competition. A San Francisco jury decided in the Fortnite maker’s favor in 2023.
A California judge in 2024 issued the injunction, which also barred Google from paying app developers or equipment manufacturers to launch apps exclusively on Play Store or preinstall the app store on their devices.
After the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction earlier this year, Google asked the Supreme Court in late September to step in and block the portions of the decision that “are the most intrusive and raise the greatest security concerns.”
Google argued that the payment provision, which is set to go into effect this month, makes it more likely that Android users will be duped into providing sensitive information to malicious actors.
The provisions requiring that Google open up the Play Store to third-party app stores and share its app catalog with rivals will come into force next summer. The company suggested that it would need to “immediately undertake substantial design and engineering resources” to comply.
Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney cheered the decision in a post on the social platform X.
“The Supreme Court has thrown out Google’s stay request,” Sweeney wrote. “Starting October 22, developers will be legally entitled to steer US Google Play users to out-of-app payments without fees, scare screens, and friction – same as Apple App Store users in the US!”
The Hill has reached out to Google for comment.
