Google is asking the Supreme Court to step in and pause the ruling the company received in its lawsuit with Epic Games, according to a filing the company shared with Engadget. The company is making its request following a major legal loss to Epic Games in October 2024, which required it to open the Google Play Store to third-party app stores for a period of three years.
Google is asking the justices to intervene by October 17, three days before the injunction Epic won starts to go into effect. The company hopes that after offering a stay, the Court will take up the case for a full review. Asking the Supreme Court for relief wouldn’t have even entered the picture if Google’s appeal hadn’t already been . The company’s filing includes multiple technical reasons why the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling should be overturned. It also offers several examples why the original injunction Epic won is bad for Google, developers and consumers.
Google believes the injunction “[creates] enormous security and safety risks by enabling stores that stock malicious, deceptive or pirated content to proliferate,” and that it burdens developers with “constantly monitoring dozens or hundreds of stores that might suddenly carry their apps without their knowledge.” The company also notes that the injunction will make it “substantially easier for developers to avoid compensating Google,” for Play Store services that have nothing to do with payments.
On the losing end of its four-year legal battle with Fortnite developer Epic, Google wasn’t just ordered to open up the Play Store to third-party app stores, it’s also no longer allowed to make deals around pre-installing the Play Store on phones or force developers to use its billing system. In contrast to Epic’s case with Apple, where the developer only won a small, if meaningful concession, Google’s loss gave Epic nearly everything it asked for.
When both Apple and Google asked the Supreme Court to review their case last year, the court denied their requests without explanation. It’s not clear if Google will get what it wants, but given the much larger changes it’ll be forced to make if the injunction moves forward, it’s possible the court could respond differently.
