Google just made its most desperate legal move yet, taking the Epic Games case to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to preserve its Android app store empire. With an October deadline looming that could shatter its control over billions in Play Store revenue, the tech giant is asking the nation's highest court to hit pause on a sweeping injunction that would fundamentally reshape how Android apps are distributed and monetized.
The stakes couldn't be higher as Google makes its final stand against a legal ruling that threatens to dismantle one of its most profitable business lines. Today's Supreme Court filing represents the company's last chance to avoid an Epic reckoning that could cost it billions in annual revenue from Play Store commissions.
The September 12th Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirmed a permanent injunction that gives Google until October to stop forcing Android developers to use Google Play Billing for in-app purchases. The ruling goes further, requiring the company to allow developers to link to alternative payment methods, distribute apps through competing stores, and set their own prices without Google's traditional 30% cut.
"The Supreme Court is Google's last hope to avoid an Epic reckoning in October," The Verge's Sean Hollister wrote, and Google apparently agrees. The company's emergency application to the Supreme Court argues that lower courts overstepped their authority and that Apple's partial victory in its own Epic case should influence how the Android dispute is resolved.
The legal maneuvering comes as the app economy has grown into a $200 billion market globally, with Google and Apple capturing significant portions through their respective app store commissions. Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, has positioned itself as the champion of developer freedom, arguing that both tech giants abuse their platform power to extract excessive fees.
Unlike Apple's more successful legal defense, Google's case has faced harder scrutiny from courts. The key difference lies in Android's more open ecosystem compared to iOS, which judges have interpreted as evidence that Google actively chose to create anticompetitive barriers rather than inheriting them from a closed platform design.
The timing creates maximum pressure. has asked the Supreme Court to decide on its stay request by October 17th, while simultaneously preparing a full certiorari petition due October 27th. Meanwhile, District Court Judge James Donato has scheduled an October 30th hearing where both and Epic must explain their compliance plans.
