Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney takes aim at Android’s ‘fake open platform’

Sweeney exits a courtroom at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Nov 14, 2022, in San Francisco. Sweeney portrayed Google as a bully that resorts to shady tactics to maintain a predatory payment system during Monday, Nov 20, 2023, testimony in an antitrust trial focused on his company's attempt to upend Google's store for Android phone apps. — AP

Epic Games Inc chief executive officer Tim Sweeney testified that Google’s Android operating system is a “fake open platform” in a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit over claims that the technology giant thwarts app market competition.

Sweeney, who founded the company that makes the blockbuster Fortnite, took the witness stand Nov 20 in San Francisco federal court to reinforce his claims that Google Play policies are unlawful and allow Alphabet Inc to maintain a monopoly in the Android mobile-app distribution market.