Google to allow third-party app stores inside Play Store from next week after Epic lawsuit

Google has finally confirmed that it will allow third-party app stores inside its Google Play Store in the US starting next week. The Alphabet-owned company confirmed to a California court in a filing on Tuesday that it was dropping its challenge against a court order in the lawsuit filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games, according to a Bloomberg report.

The latest filing by Google also brings the long-standing feud between Epic Games and the tech giant to an end.

Notably, Google had been ordered by US District Judge James Donato to allow rival marketplaces to be downloaded through the Play Store in order to help Android users switch more easily to alternatives to Google.

However, Google had then suggested a different approach in March under which third-party app stores would be available through a registration process outside the Play Store. The company argued that this would create a global solution that could also comply with regulations in Europe and other markets.

The judge had then scheduled a hearing for this week to assess the changes proposed by Google.

Nancy Rose, an economist appointed by the court and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), had already reportedly taken issue with the placement of rival marketplaces outside the Play Store. She said that users are already accustomed to searching for apps through the Play Store and noted that requiring users to leave the Play Store and download app stores from external websites would create additional friction and make it harder for competing marketplaces to gain traction.

“I am not persuaded that the Registered App Store program will do the work that distribution through Google Play,” Rose said in a report quoted by Bloomberg.

“An entrant marketing an app store through web download must persuade the user to leave the mobile environment she knows, navigate to a possibly unfamiliar site, and complete an installation there. An app store available within Play converts the same marketing into an installation inside the store the user already uses,” she added.

What Google said on allowing rival third-party app stores

Google has decided to withdraw its proposal instead of continuing the legal fight.

In a statement quoted by Bloomberg, Google said it chose to avoid “prolonging this process, which creates uncertainty for the ecosystem” and confirmed that it will continue complying with the remaining terms of the court’s order.