Google vs. Epic: 800 Million Deal is Part of Out-of-Court Settlement

For years, Epic and Google have been fighting in court until both parties suddenly reach an out-of-court settlement – likely also due to a new business deal.

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Jan 23, 2026 at 10:36 am CET

2 min. read

By

Daniel Herbig

For years, Epic and Google have been fighting in court – now there is an out-of-court settlement, which still needs to be approved. The dispute over the market power of the Android ecosystem was possibly settled out of court because both parties were able to agree on a business deal worth 800 million US dollars. This is the finding from a court hearing reported by the US tech magazine The Verge.

According to The Verge, the responsible judge, James Donato, questioned Epic and Google about the deal, which was not previously publicly known. According to this, Epic Games is to pay Google a total of 800 million US dollars over six years. There is little information about the content of the contract – according to The Verge, it concerns “joint product development, joint marketing, and partnerships.” Google also benefits from the deal and, according to court testimony, will be able to use the Unreal Engine developed by Epic more extensively.

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Out-of-Court Settlement

Last November, after years of legal dispute over the market power of the Android ecosystem, Epic and Google surprisingly agreed on an out-of-court compromise. According to the new proposal, independent app stores worldwide should enjoy a better standing as long as they meet Google's security requirements, among other things. Such app stores could be classified as “registered app stores,” enjoy more privileges, and ensure more competition in the Android ecosystem.

Epic and Google have submitted this agreement to the responsible judge, James Donato, who still has to approve it. According to The Verge, Judge James Donato viewed the agreement critically. He possibly fears that Epic Games may have scaled back its claims against Google to conclude the contract on favorable terms.

In fact, Sweeney admitted, according to The Verge, that the business deal was related to the out-of-court settlement between Epic and Google. However, the contract between Epic and Google reflects market-standard conditions. The decision on the out-of-court agreement reached between Epic and Google is still pending.