Google called sideloading Fortnite a terrible experience
Google, Apple and Epic Games have been fighting a heated battle over the rules that apply in the app stores since last year – a battle that will now also be fought in court. New public court documents filed by Apple and Google’s plaintiff Epic Games show, among other things, that Google actually considers sideloading apps on Android a “terrible experience.”
How to sideload Fortnite on Android
Unlike Apple’s iOS, Android is an ‘open platform’ that makes it possible to install apps that are not in the Google Play Store. Still, Google prefers to see apps in the Play Store than outside of it, according to published court documents. Talks between Google and Epic Games make it clear that Google Play executives see the sideloading experience on Android as a “horror” and a “terrible experience.”
For Google, the talks with Epic Games were aimed at reaching a deal together, so that Fortnite would still be launched on the Play Store. In addition, Google employees acknowledge that the “barriers imposed on consumers who want to download apps directly lead to a ‘poor user experience'”. This would not only lead to a bad experience, but – as can be read in the documents – also to a lower reach for Epic’ Fortnite. According to Epic Games, Google is aware of this effect, due to available data.
The reduced reach is partly due to the relatively small reach of apps outside the Play Store, as well as the ’15 steps’ that users must take to install apps that are not in the Play Store. In addition, Epic states that installing third-party apps is “associated with installing a malicious app”, making users suspicious of installing the app.
‘Google wanted to buy Epic’
Epic’s actions to bypass the Google Play Store and offer users an alternative installation method were seen by Google as an “contamination”, according to the game developer, based on internal Google documents. Several projects are said to have been set up within the search giant to nip the ‘contamination’ in the bud. The company would have even considered acquiring part or all of Epic Games to fix the problem, the documents show. According to Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, his company was not up to date of Google’s considerations.
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If indeed Google has considered acquiring Epic Games, it would have been an interesting choice. Both parties have been at odds with each other since August 2020. Fortnite was removed from the Play Store at that time, because the game from Epic Games did not meet the Play Store conditions. Users could pay outside the Play Store, while Google generally requires apps to use Google’s payment platform. Every app developer has to pay 30 percent of his turnover via this platform.
Epic Games is one of the parties that opposes Google’s rules in its app store. According to the game developer, Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store have monopolistic behavior and developers cannot do without these app stores, which means that they are tied to the costs that app stores charge.
In the run-up to the lawsuits, Google has made an interim change to its payment platform that will allow many developers to sell goods at a lower rate.
