"Google's Antitrust Battles: Epic Games vs. Google and More"

Epic Games' legal battle against Google, known as the Epic v. Google trial, has begun in a US district court in San Francisco. While not an exact repeat of Epic's previous trial against Apple, the issues raised in both cases are similar. The initial conflict arose when Epic added an "Epic Direct Payment" option to Fortnite's mobile in-game store, violating Apple and Google's app store rules. While Apple removed Fortnite from the iOS App Store, Google allowed sideloading on Android but removed the game from the Google Play Store. Epic's complaint against Google focuses on the barriers it claims Google imposes to eliminate competition for the Google Play store, including discouraging sideloading and signing exclusive deals with Android OEMs.