OnePlus and Samsung Faced Restrictions on Including Fortnite in App Stores Amid Epic vs Google Dispute

The Epic Games vs Google antitrust trial continued on Monday, with a focus on agreements between Google and phone manufacturers regarding app inclusions on their devices. It was revealed that OnePlus required Google's permission to pre-install Fortnite, which was reportedly denied. Google's VP of Android platform partnerships, James Kolotouros, confirmed that OnePlus needed a waiver to add Fortnite, and the alternative was to forfeit its Premier revenue share. However, Google later stated that OnePlus made the decision not to pre-install Fortnite to ensure 'sustainable long-term growth.' The company noted that 95% of Android phones in the US are not part of the Premier revenue share tier and can pre-load apps from non-Google marketplaces if chosen. The discussion also touched on Samsung and Google's relationship, with Google expressing concerns over installing Fortnite on a Samsung Note 8 without warnings about 'Unknown Sources.' Epic previously complained that non-Google Play apps face excessive 'unknown sources' warnings during direct installation on Android. Google cited a security threat, referencing a vulnerability in the Fortnite installer that allowed a malicious app to install a fake version of Fortnite with arbitrary permissions. Epic's lawyer stated that this vulnerability was corrected within a day. The trial is ongoing, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai set to appear as a witness.