Google and Epic Abandon Gentler Third-Party App Store Deal, Fall Back to Court Order

Google and Epic Games withdrew their negotiated settlement on July 16, 2026, abandoning a March proposal for simplified app store access. Instead, Google defaults to the original court injunction from Judge James Donato, which mandates catalog access but routes downloads through Google Play infrastructure with unchanged fees and US-only restrictions. Epic's push for easier distribution loses ground; the final program is narrower than what either company had recently offered.