So Epic Games have 10 demans from Google. One of this demands is to allow third party stores to access applications that are hosted on Google Play Store:
If a Third-Party App Store’s User wishes to download and install an app not then available on that Third-Party App Store, Google shall have the Google Play Store download and install that app on the Third-Party App Store User’s device through a background process similar to the Alley Oop integration offered by Google to certain third-party Developers.
And the judge ordered Google to calculate the costs of developing such mechanism which will basically allow third party stores to list applications from Google Play Store in their own stores.
Google will file by June 24, 2024, a proffer stating in detail the tech work required and economic costs, if any, to provide “Catalog Access” and “Library Porting” to competing app stores for a period of up to 6 years. See MDL Dkt. No. 952 at 7. The proffer may also address tech work and economic costs for the distribution of third-party app stores through the Google Play Store.
Doesn’t Aurora already do this?
Aurora is just a frontend for Google play so I guess that depends on your interpretation
Seems like a distinction without a difference.
If I can install an app via APK Mirror, and have it listed in Aurora as a Play Store app, then the functionality already exists.
This is a symptom of once again, Epic doing the bare fucking minimum and expecting to play with the big boys (but they can’t unless they cry to an adult).
Epic feels they’re entitled to have Google offer them services, which is so on brand at this point, I don’t know why I’m surprised.
They complain about monopolies but lock games behind exclusivity rights and break communities apart with patches which change the matchmaking formulas which worked until they fucked with it (Rocket League and Payday 2).
God damn I hate Epic. They’re worse than EA, which says a lot.
With some success, yes, by using fake google accounts to have access.