As expected, Google has filed an appeal against the court’s decision ordering the company to allow third-party store downloads in the Play Store and to cancel the mandatory use of its billing system.

”As we have already stated, these changes would put consumers’ privacy and security at risk, make it harder for developers to promote their apps, and reduce competition on devices,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs. “Ultimately, while these changes presumably satisfy Epic, they will cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device makers.”

The court decision states that the changes in Google should take effect from November 1, 2024 and will be valid until November 1, 2027. Epic, which initiated the lawsuit, has already announced that it plans to move the Epic Games Store to Google Play in 2025 in the United States. Microsoft also announced that next month it plans to allow users to buy and play games directly from its Xbox app for Android.