Judge orders Google to calculate the costs of Epic’s increased demand on the Play Store

But Judge Donato is actually considering them. He ordered Google to calculate the costs of complying with these requirements by June 24, one month from now:

Google will submit by June 24, 2024 an offer stating in detail the technological work required and economic costs, if any, to provide “catalog access” and “library portability” to competing app stores for a period of up to 6 years . See MDL Dkt. #952 out of 7. The offer may also address technical work and economic costs for distributing third-party app stores through the Google Play Store.

MDL Dkt. #952 is Epic’s 16-page list of questions, and 7 is the page that would force Google to provide other app stores have access to the entire Google Play app catalog, should Epic get its way. Take a look:

Just below “Catalog access and library portability” is another big question that Judge Donato appears to be considering: that Google would keep other third-party app stores in its Google Play store for six years.

According to the order, Epic will have the chance to question Google’s experts and engineers about the accuracy of its estimates and present a rebuttal before a final hearing on August 14. At an evidentiary hearing yesterday, Judge Donato seemed extremely skeptical of Google’s arguments against Epic’s proposed solutions, but also suggested that some of Epic’s questions were “open-ended and very vague.”