Fortnite was removed from the Play Store. After that, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Google

The situation around Fortnite is heating up. First, Apple removed the game from its mobile store, now Google has also arrived. As in the first case, this was immediately followed by a lawsuit from Epic Games, which, apparently, was preparing in advance for the trial.

Fortnite has been removed from the Play Store for the same reason as it was removed from the App Store. Epic Games has implemented in the mobile version of the game the same payment system that is present on the PC. It allows players to pay directly to the company, bypassing the payment systems of mobile stores, which means — without paying 30% to the platforms.

Simultaneously with the removal of the game, Google released a statement:

“The open Android ecosystem allows developers to distribute applications across multiple stores. However, for those developers who use the Play Store, we have established rules that are fair to developers and allow the store to remain safe for users. Fortnite is still available on Android, but we can’t leave it on the Play Store because it violates our rules. Anyway, we are open to continuing the dialogue with Epic Games.”

In response, the developer filed a lawsuit against Google in the same District Court of the Northern District of California as in the case of Apple. This time, however, the appeal turned out to be a little thinner — “only” 63 pages. Epic Games reports on them that it wants to end anti-competitive restrictions on the distribution market of Android applications and on the market of digital payments in Android applications.

It also follows from the case that earlier Google forced the smartphone manufacturer OnePlus to break the deal with Epic Games, under which OnePlus was going to pre-install the Fortnite launcher on its devices. It also follows from the accusation that Google put pressure on LG on this issue.

Application developers Spotify and Tinder have publicly supported Epic Games.

Also on the topic:

• In response to the removal of Fortnite from the App Store, Epic Games sued AppleApple has removed Fortnite from the App Store
• Is there any news?