Epic Games and Match Group filed a motion alleging that Google paid developers to prevent them from creating parallel Play Store competitors.
The motion is the latest one in the lawsuit the duo brought against the search giant. Initially, the developers had been fighting to resolve the potential removal of their apps from the Play Store for their refusal of the 30% tax. However, they are adding to the case, and Google promised to fight the latest motion.
“Epic and Match are adding more inaccurate claims to their failing lawsuits and we’re looking forward to setting the record straight in court,” the Android owner had said.
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Epic Games and Match Group claimed that Google paid millions of dollars to reach the Project Hug agreement, which was later called Apps and Games Velocity Program. The motion claimed that the original project was a threat to the Play Store, and Google intentionally stepped in to ensure that it remained the number Android app store.
“The program on which Epic and Match base their claims simply provides incentives for developers to give benefits and early access to Google Play users when they release new or updated content; it does not prevent developers from creating competing app stores, as they allege. In fact, the program is proof that Google Play competes fairly with numerous rivals for developers, who have a number of choices for operating systems and app stores,” Google said in its defense.
While the Play Store charges have become a burden for developers, the dominance of the platform means that they don’t have another option to reach their users. The same problem is caused by the Apple App Store as well.
Match Group owns Tinder and it operates several other dating platforms like Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, PlentyOfFish, and more. Meanwhile, Epic Games is the owner of Unreal Engine, a commercially available game engine, and the maker of the video game Fortnite.
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