Google fights Epic Games' request for significant changes while defending the app store.

 

     In their widely watched antitrust lawsuit, Google has requested a U.S. judge to refrain from enforcing significant modifications to Epic Games' (NASDAQ:GOOGL) "Fortnite" developer Epic Games' app store Play.

Google filed late on Thursday in federal court in San Francisco, where Epic last year convinced a jury that the tech giant had illegally suppressed competition by controlling the download of apps on Android devices and paying developers for in-app purchases.

Google's lawsuit claimed that Epic's proposal "would make it nearly impossible for Google to compete."

The game firm filed a request in March with U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco to order Google to facilitate the download of apps from third parties and to give developers more latitude in what they may offer and how much they can charge for them.

Also, the Cary, North Carolina-based business stated that it ought to be permitted to launch the Epic Games Store on Android devices "without delays and barriers."

The proposed injunction will be the subject of a hearing on May 23.

Epic did not answer a request for comment right away.

"Epic's demands would harm the privacy, security, and overall experience of consumers, developers, and device manufacturers," stated Wilson White, Google's head of government affairs and public policy, in a statement.

In its filing, Google said that Epic's request for an injunction was superfluous due to a related Play store deal with states and customers. According to Google, the remedies in that settlement "fully address" the accusations of anticompetitive behavior that Epic made during the trial.

Google faced off against the Justice Department and other states on Thursday in a Washington, D.C. courtroom for closing trial arguments in an even more extensive antitrust case. The states claimed that Google unfairly controls the market for mobile online search.