Epic Games and Google reach legal settlement after years of court battle
Blog Andrew Joseph 05 Nov , 2025 0
this Legal dispute between Google and Epic Games This dates back to 2020, when the former removed Fortnite from the Play Store due to a billing dispute. Since then, the two tech giants have battled it out in various courts. But now, the two sides have apparently reached a settlement, pending court approval.
Sameer Samat, president of Google's Android ecosystem, shared the news online, declaring “a series of proposed changes to Android and Google Play focused on expanding developer choice and flexibility, lowering fees, and encouraging more competition while keeping users safe.”
Exciting news! Together with Epic Games, we've submitted a set of proposed changes for Android and Google Play focused on expanding developer choice and flexibility, lowering fees, and encouraging more competition while keeping users safe. If approved, this would address our…
— Sameer Samat (@ssamat) November 5, 2025
Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney quickly added his own message to the settlement. Sweeney called it “a comprehensive solution,” before reminding everyone that Epic's ongoing battle with Apple is far from over. He said Google's behavior “stands in sharp contrast to Apple's model of blocking all competing stores and making payments the only competitive medium.”
Google made a great offer to open up Android and resolve our dispute in Epic v. Google USA, subject to court approval. It truly fulfills the original vision of Android as an open platform to simplify installation, lower service fees, and competitive store installations around the world… https://t.co/Q6E4XE3ych
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) November 5, 2025
Last year, Epic temporarily prevailed over Google, forcing the latter to integrate rival app stores into Google Play within three years. It also demands that Google stop forcing developers to use Google Play Billing for user payments.
As an alternative, the settlement agreement would last until June 2032 and be effective globally, not just in the United States. Google's new terms will reduce the standard fee for apps to 20% or 9%, depending on the type of transaction. It also promises to let external app stores register with Google and reach customers more easily.
Google spokesman Dan Jackson told edge The proposed fee changes are independent of Google Play billing. However, users can choose to pay using other billing systems.
“If users choose to pay through an alternative billing system, developers will not have to pay any billing fees to Google,” Jackson said.
Epic Games and Google will meet with the presiding judge later this week to discuss a settlement. If the court approves, their legal battle would be over.