Apparently, newly exposed documents are showing that Google wanted to buy part of Epic Games. This was because of the Fortnite on Google Play Store debacle in late-2020. On August 5, 2021 Google finally shared information that was redacted in regards to Epic Games’ antitrust complaint with Google. The complaint had to do with the way that Google treated some other companies. But, sources are saying that details are coming out saying that it has to do with competition on Android itself.
Why did they consider this?
Google was “threatened” according to Epic by their plans to go through their own software installation methods. Not going through the Google Play Store, avoids the fees that are from using the Google Play Store payment services. Epic Games released this statement.
Google has gone so far as to share its monopoly profits with business partners to secure their agreement to fence out competition, has developed a series of internal projects to address the “contagion” it perceived from efforts by Epic and others to offer consumers and developers competitive alternatives, and has even contemplated buying some or all of Epic to squelch this threat.
via theverge.com
Internal communications from within Google are still remaining secret and Epic never knew about the plans of Google. Timeframes of when Google was considering this are also still unknown. CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney posted a tweet saying that Google’s idea of buying Epic was “unbeknownst to us at the time.”
It’s Because of the Epic Games Settlement
Epic Games filed lawsuits against both Apple and Google because of a new payment service in the Fortnite game that would allow users to bypass the Google Play Store and Apple App Store payment systems. This would allow Epic Games to not share revenue with Google and Apple. The app was kicked off of Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. The app remains unavailable on iPhones. However, you can still use the app via sideloading on Android.
If you need tech support, check out the NTG Developer Forums and the community can help you out with your problems! If you are looking for a Wifi router that can let you use a self-hosted server, check out the TP-Link M3 Mesh router. Remember to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to us on our YouTube channel. We have a ton of new content in the works and we want you to be the first to know about it. Let us know more articles that we should write in the comments below!