Google intends to buy Epic Games during the Fortnite battle: report | Technology News

New Delhi: When they fought fiercely for the popular Fortnite game in the Play Store, Google considered buying “part or all” of its developer Epic Games. According to newly opened court documents seen by The Verge, Google allegedly offered a “special deal” to launch Fortnite on the Android store.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said on Twitter on Friday, “We didn’t know this at the time, and because of the court’s protective order, we now know that Google is considering acquiring Epic to shut down our Competition. Google Play”.

“Whether this is a negotiation to buy Epic or some kind of hostile acquisition attempt is unclear. Google also talked about the’frankly terrible’ sideloading experience they created while publicly touting Android as an’open platform’,” Sweeney Post further.

Epic claims that Google plans to distribute Fortnite through other channels to avoid commissions from Google’s official Play Store, which poses a threat to Google.

In an unedited section, Epic stated: “Google even shares its monopoly profits with business partners to ensure that they agree to exclude competition, and has developed a series of internal projects to address the “contagion” it feels from its efforts. Epic and other companies provide consumers and developers with competitive alternatives, and even consider purchasing some or all of Epic to eliminate this threat.”

Fortnite developers renewed their struggle with app store restrictions last month, filing a new lawsuit against Google in its antitrust lawsuit. The company sued Google last year to remove Fortnite games from the Play Store.

Epic plans to launch Fortnite on the Samsung Galaxy Store.

“Google is determined not to let this happen,” so it offered Epic a “special offer” on Google Play.

According to reports, “When Epic rejected the deal, Google allegedly took other anti-competitive actions, but the details of that action are unclear.”

Epic is also involved in a legal dispute with Apple. The main trial between Apple and Epic ended in May, and both parties are now awaiting Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling on the matter.

The widely reported trial between Apple and Epic Games began on May 5 as the two companies were involved in a legal dispute over the use of the in-game payment system. Please also read: CarTrade, Nuvoco Vistas, Aptus Value and Chemplast Sanmar IPOs will open next week: check opening dates, price ranges and other details

The Fortnite game was removed from the App Store in August last year, after the company allegedly violated the rules by adding an in-game payment system to deprive Apple of commissions for in-app purchases in the App Store. Please also read: The center aims to resolve the Kane Energy retrospective tax case with a refund of $1 billion: report