☰
Epic Games, developer of the popular online game ‘Fortnite’, has recently filed a new antitrust lawsuit against Google in Australia’s federal court. Reportedly, the video game developer alleged the American tech giant of ‘anti-competitive conduct,’ which it claims infringes Australia’s competition laws.
Previously, Epic Games had filed a similar lawsuit against the multinational technology company Apple Inc. in November 2020, and last month filed an antitrust complaint against the same with the EU. It tried to rack up suits against Google and Apple in the United Kingdom as well, however, was told that it will not be allowed to take Apple to court, confirmed sources.
The series of lawsuits follow the heels of Epic Games’ larger plan to take down the tech giants in various countries.
Epic's legal battle with Google and Apple commenced back in August last year, of which the legal fight with Apple is due in court this May. The lawsuit was initiated after Epic Games criticized rules regarding in-app payments for app stores of Google and Apple.
As of now, developers are required to pay Google and Apple a 30% commission on any payments made in their apps, to which Epic Games responded by claiming that this rule is anti-competitive as it elevates prices for customers who have little option for downloading apps beyond the boundaries of official app stores, cited sources knowledgeable with the matter.
To bypass the mandatory fee, Epic Games integrated its payment system inside ‘Fortnite’, leading it to be removed from Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store. The two tech behemoths aren’t facing heat just from Epic. The EU declared two antitrust probes into Apple in June, one of which was directed towards the App Store policies.
Moreover, the Department of Justice announced an antitrust investigation into Google last October, and the Biden government has signaled that it will continue to keep a close watch over how big tech companies operate.
Source Credits –
French multinational electric utility company- ENGIE has reportedly selected Siemens Gamesa to expand its operations and meet the sustainable energy requirements of Latin America through the installation of a wind farm for generating 260 MW of renewa...
Facebook’s oversight board has recently announced the expansion of its remit to enable the platform’s user to review requests for content left up on the site as well as for the ones taken down. This move comes as a response to Facebook&rs...
South Korean battery manufacturers SK Innovation Co. and LG Energy Solution have reached an agreement in a U.S. trade dispute. This has allowed the two companies to steer away from a potential setback for the country’s EV ambitions by sparring...
© 2021 groundalerts.com. All Rights Reserved.
