US Court Rejects Google's Request to Suspend App Store Update in Epic Games Case

SadaNews - Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, failed on Friday to persuade a US appeals court to freeze an order requiring it to implement comprehensive reforms to its "Play Store" app store, while appealing the decision in a lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the creator of video games including "Fortnite".

An appeals court in San Francisco rejected Google's request to continue suspending the order, which requires the tech company to restore competition by allowing users to download competing app stores within its own.

The appeals court stated that Google did not meet the necessary criteria to keep the order on hold. Google still has up to 10 months to comply with certain key provisions of the initial court order, and 30 days to comply with other provisions, according to Reuters.

In a separate order, the appeals court indicated that it would not reconsider Google’s appeal to suspend the order. Google may request intervention from the US Supreme Court.

Google expressed disappointment with the ruling in a statement, saying it is exploring options to appeal to the US Supreme Court, arguing that the initial court order could harm consumer security and privacy.

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, praised the court's ruling in a post on the social media platform "X", stating that developers and consumers would soon benefit from it.

Epic Games accused Google in its 2020 lawsuit of monopolizing how consumers access apps on Android devices and charging for in-app transactions. The company convinced a jury in San Francisco in 2023 that Google illegally suppressed competition.

Judge James Donato in San Francisco issued his order in the case last year, requiring Google to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of the "Play Store", while Google denied any wrongdoing.

In support of the court order, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stated in July 2025 that Epic's case "is rich with evidence that Google’s anti-competitive behavior entrenched its dominance".

Google informed the appeals court in a filing on August 8 that Judge Donato's order is "unprecedented" and would place it and its competitor Apple in unfair competition.

Epic largely lost a similar lawsuit it filed against Apple in 2020, accusing it of monopolizing app distribution and in-app financial transactions.

Google stated that if the jury's decision and Judge Donato's order remain in effect, it and Apple would operate "under different legal rules arising from conflicting decisions from this court".