Google seeks Supreme Court stay on Play Store changes in Epic case

Google asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to pause a lower court order that would force sweeping changes to its Play app store as it prepares to appeal a lawsuit brought by Fortnite maker Epic Games. In an emergency filing to Justice Elena Kagan, Google sought to halt portions of an injunction set to take effect in October that would require the company to allow rival app stores and alternate payment systems on Android devices, and to permit developers to link to external billing options.

The dispute dates to 2020, when Epic sued Google after the company removed Fortnite from the Play Store for attempting to bypass Google Play Billing. A San Francisco jury in 2023 found that Google illegally stifled competition, and U.S. District Judge James Donato issued an injunction directing Google to make its app catalogue available to competitors, allow users to download rival app stores within Play, and permit external links in apps. A three judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that injunction earlier this year, and the full 9th Circuit on September 12 declined Google’s request for further review.

In its Supreme Court filing, Google argued that the lower...