Google says Fortnite’s in-app purchase swap was a breach of contract, sues Epic

Enlarge (credit: Epic Games)

Epic Games keeps piling up lawsuits with app store owners. This time, Google is countersuing Epic for breach of contract.

Epic vs. Apple/Google

• Google says Fortnite’s in-app purchase swap was a breach of contract, sues Epic
• Major win for Epic Games: Apple has 90 days to open up app store payments
• Google allegedly considered buying Epic Games to silence antitrust complaints
• The Epic v. Apple case could hinge on the definition of the “marketplace”
• Apple CEO faces tough questioning as Epic Games trial wraps up

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Epic signed contracts with both Google and Apple, pledging to use the default payment systems for in-app purchases. As part of its push for more open payment systems, though (and to dodge each platform's 30 percent fee), Epic boldly pushed out updates to the Android and iOS apps that switched the payment processing from the platforms' in-app purchases to Epic's in-house system. Google and Apple both allege this action was a breach of their app store contracts with Epic.

Apple sued and got its ruling last month. Epic was ordered to pay $3.65 million in damages, covering Apple's lost revenue from Epic's three months of self-powered payments. Following that ruling, Google wants its missing money, too, and now it's countersuing Epic, hoping for a similar ruling.

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