Epic Games is waging legal war against Apple and Google for what it calls the exorbitant 30% revenue share those companies make on every app and in-app purchase. Indeed, every developer finds themselves paying the piper for the privilege of using what may arguably be the only practical commerce platforms of Android and iOS, but they don't usually have the means to file a suit. Now, though, one law firm is attempting to round up the aggrieved with proposed class-action litigation against Google.

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a Seattle-based practice which specializes in class actions, has filed a complaint with federal district court in San Jose against Google for establishing an effective Android app store monopoly — discouraging and making it difficult to sideload app stores without obfuscation measures such as alarming Google Play Protect prompts — and, within it, putting in the anti-competitive practices such as the 30% split and a product pricing minimum of 99 cents.

Unlike the Epic lawsuit, Hagens Berman is seeking monetary damages. Developers can sign up to become part of the class with this form, but a judge will have to greenlight this charge before things start to really roll. You can read the full complaint here.

In 2018, Aptoide snagged an injunction to force Google to stop Play Protect from detecting and deleting its third-party app store, so there is some legal precedent here. That was in a Portuguese court, however — it'll be a different tangle to battle stateside.

Source: Hagens Berman (1), (2)