The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a final decision upholding the 2023 judgment against Google, asserting that the App Store and its payment system constitute an illegal monopoly.

The three judges on the bench rejected Google's request to overturn the ruling, paving the way for a permanent injunction to trigger a permanent injunction forcing the company to open up its Android system to alternative app stores and restricting its monopolistic practices.

The decision marks a decisive victory for Epic Games, which has used its popular game Fortnite as a tool to stir up legal controversy over Google and Apple's policies in app distribution and payment methods.


The court
confirmed that Google is now obliged to implement previous court rulings issued by Judge James Donato in 2024, which have been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the appeal. After the new ruling, the freeze was lifted, and Google had to take concrete steps to open the Android system to independent app stores.

The permanent court ruling includes requiring Google to allow the distribution of alternative app stores within the Google Play Store, enabling competitors to access the full app catalog, and prohibiting the company from forcing developers to use its payment system.

Mixed reactions from both sides Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic, expressed his joy at the decision, writing on the X platform that his company had won a complete victory in the appeal against Google. Epic announced that it will launch its Android App Store through the Google Play Store, taking advantage of the new court ruling.

On the other hand, Google issued a statement through Lee Ann Mololand, the global head of regulatory affairs, in which she warned that the decision will undermine the security of users and limit freedom of choice, in addition to negatively impacting innovation within the Android system. The company said it would continue to appeal the ruling and possibly take the case to the Supreme Court.

Epic Games began its legal

battle against both Apple and Google in 2020 after removing its game Fortnite from their app stores, due to the introduction of an internal payment method that bypassed official payment systems. Epic has made no secret of its intention to use Fortnite as a tool to expose the two companies' dominance of the app market, losing most of its case to Apple, but it has been aggressively successful in the case against Google.