Google and Epic Games announced earlier that they have reached a settlement in their years-long antitrust legal battle over the Google Play Store. The two parties filed an amended motion in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, requesting Judge James Donato's approval. If approved, this will formally end the lawsuit, which began in 2020, concerning the alleged monopoly on Android app distribution and payments.
Both sides' top officials affirmed the reconciliation, emphasizing openness and competition.
Sameer Samat, President of Google's Android Ecosystem, stated at "X": "We have jointly submitted a proposed change to Android and the Google Play Store with Epic Games, focusing on expanding developer choice and flexibility, reducing revenue sharing fees, encouraging more competition, and ensuring user safety."
Exciting news! Together with Epic Games we have filed a proposed set of changes to Android and Google Play that focus on expanding developer choice and flexibility, lowering fees, and encouraging more competition all while keeping users safe. If approved, this would resolve our…
— Sameer Samat (@ssamat) November 5, 2025
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also praised the proposal, saying it "truly doubles down on Android's original vision as an open platform, simplifies the installation process in competing global stores, reduces service fees for Google Play Store developers, and enables in-app payments and web payments for third parties."
Google has made an awesome proposal, subject to court approval, to open up Android in the US Epic v Google case and settle our disputes. It genuinely doubles down on Android's original vision as an open platform to streamline competing store installs globally, reduce service fees… https://t.co/Q6E4XE3ych
- Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) November 5, 2025
Details of the settlement: Adherence to court orders and explicit stipulation of commission caps.
The background to this settlement is the court's ruling at the end of 2023.Epic Games wins caseGoogle subsequently in July of this yearAppeal failedWith its request to the Supreme Court for a stay of the injunction also rejected, Google is now obligated to comply with the original court ruling, which includes:
• It is prohibited to pay manufacturers or app developers in exchange for app content being available or distributed only on the Google Play Store.
• Third-party app stores must be allowed to install on Android devices.
• Prohibit developers from being forced to use only Google's payment system.
The settlement proposal submitted by both parties this time is based on the aforementioned order, with modifications and clarifications made to the implementation details:
• Open alternative payments:The two parties have finalized a plan that allows developers to “seamlessly use alternative payment mechanisms” (including in-app payments and external links), but still need to comply with Google’s security standards.
• Explicitly set commission cap (Fee Cap):The settlement clearly stipulates the maximum percentage Google can receive from these alternative payments—9% or 20%, depending on the type of transaction.
• Rate limits:The revenue sharing cap for in-app payment systems applies only to newly installed apps.
• Third-party store standards:Both parties jointly determined the "reasonable and neutral standards" that third-party stores need to meet. Stores that meet the standards will be more easily downloaded by users worldwide and will be able to compete with the Google Play Store.
Awaiting judge's approval
Sameer Samat stated that both parties will meet with the judge on November 6th, U.S. time. If the judge approves the settlement proposal, it will resolve the issues in the lawsuit. This settlement is clearly a significant concession made by Google to maintain control of its Android ecosystem under dual pressure from regulators and the judiciary.
