Epic initiated legal action against Google in Australia in March 2021, following a prior lawsuit against Apple in November 2020. Despite their different filing dates, a single court is overseeing both cases concurrently.

On Tuesday, federal judge Jonathan Beach concluded that Apple and Google exploited their app marketplace control and imposed up to 30 percent commission fees for in-app purchases, hampering competition, according to the Australian Financial Review. However, Beach dismissed Epic’s allegations that the tech giants violated consumer laws or engaged in “unconscionable conduct”—defined as extraordinarily harsh, unjust, or oppressive actions contrary to societal standards. We are awaiting additional specifics from Beach’s extensive final judgment, which spans over 2,000 pages and will remain confidential.

“We appreciate the court’s dismissal of Epic’s requests that we embed app stores within the Google Play store, as well as Epic’s criticisms of other essential security measures relied upon by users,” said Google spokesperson Dan Jackson in a statement to The Verge.

“Nonetheless, we disagree with the court’s representation of our billing policies and practices and its assessments of some of our historical alliances, which were all formed within a highly competitive mobile environment in the interests of both users and developers,” added Jackson. “We will evaluate the complete decision upon receipt and determine our subsequent actions.”

In remarks to Australia’s ABC News, an unnamed Apple spokesperson conveyed the company’s satisfaction with the court’s dismissal of some of Epic’s claims, though they opposed other sections of the ruling. “Apple faces robust competition in all markets where we operate,” the spokesperson stated. “We constantly invest and innovate to ensure the App Store is the safest venue for users to access apps and a significant business platform for developers in Australia and globally.”

Meanwhile in the US version of the Google trial, Epic has continually won: in late 2023, a jury unanimously decided that Google turned its Play Store and Play Billing system into an illegal monopoly, and a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just affirmed that decision at the end of July.

That decision could blow up Google’s control over its app store within weeks or months, unless Google gets the Ninth Circuit to grant a stay while it appeals to the US Supreme Court or grants a full en banc review of the three-judge panel’s decision. Google is arguing that the Apple decision should be relevant to the Google decision, but so far US courts disagree.