Google and Epic Games have ended their six-year antitrust battle over the Android app ecosystem by abandoning a proposed revision to a court-ordered injunction, clearing the way for third-party app stores to appear inside Google Play in the United States from July 22, 2026.
The move stems from a 2024 ruling by US District Judge James Donato, who found Google’s Play Store and Play Billing practices to be an unlawful monopoly and imposed a three-year injunction requiring Google to open its Android app marketplace to competing stores. Under that order, Google must distribute rival app stores through Google Play and give them access to its full catalog of Android apps, except where individual developers choose to opt out. The injunction runs through November 1, 2027.
In March 2026, Google and Epic had reached a settlement that would have redesigned app store practices, including lowering Google’s standard fee and creating a registered app store framework, and jointly asked the court to modify the injunction to reflect those terms. Judge Donato scheduled an evidentiary hearing after external experts questioned aspects of the proposal, injecting uncertainty into the timeline for implementation. Rather than continue that process, the companies told the court they were withdrawing their motion to alter the injunction, leaving the original remedies in place.
Google has since notified US developers that, unless they opt out by July 22, their app and game listings including names, icons, descriptions, screenshots, and videos will automatically be made available to approved third-party US Android app stores. Downloads of those apps will still be fulfilled through Google Play on the same terms as standard Play Store installations. To access the Play catalog, third-party stores must enroll in Google’s Play Catalog Access Program, pay an annual fee of $5,000 for security and policy reviews, and meet conditions such as being open to all eligible developers, limiting malware to under 1 percent of install attempts, and distributing apps only within the US.
The opening of Google Play creates an immediate opportunity for companies planning rival mobile storefronts, including Microsoft, which has been developing an Xbox-branded game store for Android in anticipation of a more permissive app distribution regime. More broadly, the injunction bars Google from requiring Play Billing, sharing Play Store revenue with distributors to secure exclusivity, or blocking developers from informing users about lower prices available outside Google Play for the duration of the three-year remedy period.
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