Google, Epic Games face off as app antitrust trial nears end

Alphabet’s Google on Monday will try to persuade a federal jury in San Francisco to reject antitrust claims by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games in a case that threatens Google’s app store and transaction fees imposed on Android app developers.

Lawyers for the two companies are set to make their final arguments after more than a month of trial in Epic’s lawsuit, which accuses Google of unlawfully scheming to make its Play store dominant over rival app stores.

The lawsuit, filed in 2020, also challenges the fee of up to 30 per cent that Google imposes on developers for in-app sales.

“The trial has shown a very bright light on what Google has done to impair the competition,” a lawyer for Epic, Gary Bornstein, told jurors on Monday.