Activision Blizzard and Riot Games at one level instructed Google they could launch their very own cell app shops, in keeping with new paperwork filed in Epic’s antitrust lawsuit in opposition to the search big. The particulars got here to mild as a part of allegations about main offers signed with the 2 corporations. Google allegedly agreed to pay Activision about $360 million over three years and Riot about $30 million for a one-year deal.

In one document, Google exec Karen Aviram Beatty is reporting again from a dialog with Activision Blizzard’s now-CFO Armin Zerza one month earlier than the 2 corporations signed the large deal. “If this deal falls through, [Zerza] claims that they will launch their own mobile distribution platform (partnering with another “major mobile company” — presume Epic), double down with Amazon / Twitch (or MSFT) for Cloud / eSports [sic], and draw back from Stadia,” Beatty wrote (emphasis mine). While Zerza might have simply been doing a little hardline negotiating, Activision has not but launched its personal app retailer on cell, so it appears the corporate was proud of how the deal finally turned out.

Another doc is a deposition from an unnamed witness that appears to be somebody who’s or was concerned with “Project Hug,” Google’s program designed to incentivize and help Play Store builders. In the deposition, the witness says that Riot Games instructed Google it was contemplating launching a competing Android app retailer. Later, the witness says that “Riot and Activision Blizzard King were the ones that were the most direct with us” about contemplating beginning their very own app shops.

Project Hug agreements first got here to mild in August 2021 as a part of an unredacted Epic grievance. But Epic, in a newly amended complaint filed Thursday, alleges Project Hug offers are designed to “prevent the developer from opening a competing store or otherwise distributing its apps outside of the Google Play Store.”

Epic initially launched Fortnite outdoors of Google Play in 2018, which let it bypass Google’s charges, and Epic has already argued that Project Hug was designed to entice builders to stay with Play as an alternative of creating their very own shops. (Epic finally introduced Fortnite to the Play Store in 2020, but it surely was eliminated a number of months later.) But based mostly on the brand new paperwork, it appears Activision and Riot have been pondering of hanging out on their very own.

In statements to The Verge, Google and Activision pushed again on Epic’s allegations. Google stated that packages like Project Hug don’t stop builders from creating their very own app shops, and Activision stated that Google didn’t make them agree to not compete with Google Play.

“Epic is mischaracterizing business conversations,” Google spokesperson Michael Appel stated. “Programs like Project Hug provide incentives for developers to give benefits and early access to Google Play users when they release new or updated content; it does not prevent developers from creating competing app stores, as Epic falsely alleges. In fact, the program is proof that Google Play competes fairly with numerous rivals for developers, who have a number of choices for distributing their apps and digital content.”

“Activision testified in court that Google and Activision never entered into an agreement that Activision would not open its own app store,” Activision spokesperson Joe Christinat stated. “Google never asked us, pressured us, or made us agree not to compete with Google Play. We submitted documents and testimony that prove this. Epic’s allegations are nonsense.”

Riot didn’t reply to a request for remark.

One of Epic’s reveals additionally accommodates a listing of greater than 20 corporations Google has signed Project Hug (now technically the “Games Velocity Program”) offers with as of July 2022. Activision and Riot are each listed, as are large gaming corporations like EA, Niantic, Nintendo, Tencent, and Ubisoft.