Lawsuit Claims Google Pondered Buying Epic

Google considered acquiring Epic Games, the video game developer that it is currently in a court battle with, according to Bloomberg.

The tech giant contemplated “buying some or all of Epic” because the “Fortnite” maker created competition by offering consumers and developers alternatives, per Epic’s complaint.

The relationship between Google and Epic has been contentious for some time now. 

Epic sued Google last August for removing “Fortnite” from Google Play after Epic challenged the company’s in-app billing requirements on the platform, similar to Apple’s policies on the App Store.

Google and Apple each take 30% cuts from in-app purchases on their platforms. Epic also sued Apple in 2020 and is still awaiting a verdict after the trial concluded in May.

Epic generated more than $9 billion in revenue from “Fortnite” in two years. The news of Google’s acquisition interest comes after its big moves in fitness and traditional sports.

• Google completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit in January.
• In May, it agreed to a three-year partnership with the WNBA and ESPN, joining Nike, Deloitte, and AT&T on an initiative focused on bringing more viewers to women’s sports.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported $61.9 billion in revenue during Q2 2021, a 62% increase year-over-year. 

The conglomerate is the fourth-most valuable company in the world with a market capitalization of $1.83 trillion.