Sean Hollister, reporting for The Verge (gift link):
Here’s Google’s full statement on withdrawing its proposed
modifications to Judge Donato’s permanent injunction, via Google
spokesperson Dan Jackson:We’ve agreed with Epic to withdraw our motion to modify the US
Court’s injunction rather than prolonging this process which
creates uncertainty for the ecosystem. This allows us to focus on
executing our recently announced global business model
evolution to deliver greater app store choice, lower prices, and
more opportunities for developers and users. We remain committed
to maintaining Android’s industry-leading security and fostering
a competitive ecosystem where every app store and developer has
the freedom to compete. In parallel, we continue to comply with
the US Court’s injunction.Google had previously announced that it would launch its
sideloaded Registered App Store program in the rest of the world,
beginning with the new version of Android later this year. That
means there may be two different tracks for Android:
stores-within-a-store in the United States and Registered App
Stores everywhere else.Google is already informing US app developers that their
apps and game listings will automatically be provided to
third-party app stores starting July 22nd, unless they opt out,
and it’s launched a specific page for its Play Catalog Access
Program for third-party app stores to enroll.
I presume that this new agreement between Google and Epic includes ripping up the “no criticism of Play Store” gag order that the highly principled Tim Sweeney had agreed to in exchange for $800 million back in March?
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what developers do. My guess is that all the big app developers will opt out of this. Games, though, maybe not?
