Video game company Epic Games has battled technology giants Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL and Apple Inc AAPL over the years over the fees taken for app purchases.
An ongoing trial with Alphabet revealed a company that gets around the app store fees.
What Happened: Ongoing testimony between Epic Games and Alphabet-owned Google comes as the maker of the popular Fortnite video game has battled against the commission fees paid to app store companies.
In new testimony, it was revealed that music streaming platform Spotify Technology SPOT has a deal in place with Google that lets it avoid paying most commission fees.
As reported by The Verge, Spotify pays 0% in commission fees if it uses its own payment processor. Fees of 4% are paid to Google otherwise.
The deal was revealed by Google head of partnerships Don Harrison and comes after Google tried to keep the terms of the Spotify deal private during the antitrust battle.
Google typically takes a 15% commission fee on subscriptions done through the Google Play store. The User Choice Billing program launched by Google in 2022 allows a lower commission to be paid if app developers use their own payment processing. The User Choice Billing program typically brings the subscription commission down to 11% according to the report.
Harrison said the "unprecedented" popularity of Spotify led to the deal.
"If we don't have Spotify working properly across Play services and core services, people will not buy Android phones," Harrison said.
In a statement to The Verge, Google said that "a small number" of developers have different service fee deals.
Related Link: Alphabet (Google) Q3 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Beat, EPS Beat, AI Driven Innovations
Why It's Important: In the testimony, Google did not name other developers who have special fee deals with the company.
It was previously revealed during the ongoing trial that Netflix Inc NFLX was offered a discounted deal rate of 10% but the streaming company objected. Netflix does not offer in-app purchases on the Google Play store anymore.
Spotify has complained about commission fees for app stores previously and was part of a fight against Apple and Google.
It was revealed previously that Google had considered buying a stake in Epic Games or acquiring the company outright, a move that could have likely avoided the current trial.
"This was unbeknownst to us at the time, and because of the court's protective order we're just finding out now about Google's consideration of buying Epic to shut down our efforts to compete with Google Play," Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney previously said.
News that Google considered buying Epic Games and the recent revelation that Google has different deals in place for lower fees with some developers could strengthen Epic Games argument over unfair practices and antitrust concerns.
Epic Games lost its battle against Apple, failing to prove that the technology giant used monopolistic practices. It was ruled that Apple had to open its iOS app store to allow alternative payments.
The latest lawsuit against Google could see a similar ruling or could see Epic Games come out victorious. The testimony about Spotify, which Google did not want shared in court, could become a key piece to prove that the technology giant has unfair practices.
Read Next: Spotify's Stock Gains On Q3 Performance
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