There is a very old phrase that says: “If you can’t beat your enemy, join him.” But for Google, and many other large corporations, the auction may be a little different. Maybe something like: “If you can’t beat your enemy, buy him.” That’s what the Mountain View firm would have considered with respect to Epic games during the dispute over the launch of Fortnite for Android.
The data came to light through a report by The Verge, based on recently disclosed court documents. According to said medium, Google released access to parts of the monopoly indictment filed by Epic Games lawyers that were previously censored. There, the developers of Fortnite mention that the signature of the search engine flirted with the idea of acquiring them as a way to “quell the threat.”
Before delving into this story, let’s take a few steps back in time. In 2018, Epic Games released Fortnite for Android, but it did so outside of the Play Store. In this way, the company tried to avoid the 30% commission that Google would charge it for transactions carried out within the video game.
After several twists and turns, the developers gave their arm to twist and launched Fortnite in the official online store for Android. But nevertheless, the presence in the Play Store was short-lived; the game was withdrawn by Google when the scandal between Epic Games and Apple broke out over the App Store.
As a consequence of this situation, the firm led by Tim Sweeney filed a lawsuit for alleged monopolistic practices against those of Mountain View – and also against Apple. It is now clear from the documentation corresponding to said litigation that the information you accessed The Verge.
Would Google have bought Epic Games to end the controversy of ‘Fortnite’ and the Play Store?
Google would have analyzed in an internal document the decision of Epic Games to distribute Fortnite outside the Play Store, and its consequences. Although the text in question was not declassified, the Californian corporation would have described the plans of the developer study as a “contagion” that would threaten them, because it would set a precedent for other companies to do the same. Thus, the possibility of buying them would not have been unreasonable for them. This is how the document states:
The conduct described below shows that Google’s persistent monopoly is the result of its own deliberate efforts to achieve and maintain it. Not content with the contractual and technical barriers it has carefully constructed to eliminate competition, Google uses its size, influence, power, and money to induce third parties into anti-competitive deals that further entrench its monopolies.
For example, Google has gone to the point of sharing its monopoly profits with business partners, in order to strike agreements to avoid competition; has developed a series of internal projects to address the “contagion” it perceived from the efforts of Epic and others to offer competitive alternatives to consumers and developers, and has even contemplated buying part or all of Epic to quell this threat.
A story with no near end
Regardless, at no point is it referenced that Google actually tried to buy from the creators of Fortnite. In fact, Tim Sweeney himself, CEO of Epic Games, manifested that only now did they become aware of the situation expressed by their legal representatives; This is due to the confidentiality measures imposed by the court.
But the controversy does not stop with the supposed consideration of Google to buy Epic Games. The document also states that those of Mountain View would have offered a “special agreement” to bring Fortnite to the Play Store. Even their representatives would have qualified the installation of the game through the sideloading What “a disastrous experience” and “frankly abysmal”.
Clearly, the last word has yet to be said regarding this story. As with Apple, the litigation between Epic Games and Google does not have a near horizon for its completion.