"No similarly sensitive information is at stake here. Court filings that expose a person's sensitive medical information, for example, or a business's trade secrets, are candidates for sealing," Judge Donato wrote. "On occasion, there may be a good reason to limit the public access that law and long tradition demand. But Judge James Donato, who is presiding over Epic's antitrust lawsuit against Google, denied Google's attempts to keep the documents sealed in an order issued yesterday. Up until now, Google's intention to try and purchase Epic Games and other details about its efforts to combat competition first became known only in a broad sense, because the court documents containing that information that were first made public earlier this month were still partially redacted. So Google spent hundreds of millions of dollars on around 20 deals with top companies, including Activision Blizzard, to keep them from following in Fortnite's footsteps, the complaint detailed. Google calculated that it risked losing up to $6 billion in revenue if more developers followed Epic in leaving the Play Store. Other now-unsealed portions of the complaint deal with new information surrounding Google's so-called "Project Hug," an initiative designed to sway top Android app makers and game developers not to leave the Play Store using kickbacks, commission reductions and other financial incentives. Following the meeting, an Apple representative suggested to a Google senior member that the two companies team up and "work as if we are one company" to combat efforts like Epic's to undermine mobile app store commission rates and restrictions against alternative app stores. Other unredacted sections of Epic's complaint reveal more new details, including those from a meeting between Apple and Google that took place in 2018 to discuss increasing search revenue growth Google pays Apple large sums of money to make Google Search the default search engine on the mobile Safari for the iPhone. ![]() Epic CEO Tim Sweeney maintains control of the company. Tencent, one of the largest game developers and publishers in the world with stakes in countless companies, acquired a 40% stake in Epic back in 2012. This information was produced during discovery, and Epic initially included it in an amended complaint back in July however portions of it were subject to seal by the court. 'As a potential alternative', a senior Google executive proposed that Google 'consider approaching Tencent,' a company that owns a minority stake in Epic, 'to either (a) buy Epic shares from Tencent to get more control over Epic', or '(b) join up with Tencent to buy 100% of Epic,'" the complaint said. "Google recognized that Epic might not accept its offer. Google antitrust case that are no longer redacted as per a court order issued on Wednesday. Other companies that pay revenue to app-store operators, including Spotify, Match Group and Duolingo, also rose on the news.Google executives discussed approaching Chinese gaming giant Tencent about purchasing shares in Epic Games or potentially orchestrating a hostile takeover of the company, according to court documents in the ongoing Epic v. Game stocks weren't the only ones to rally after the injunction. Earlier this month, the company said that content subscription apps could provide a link out to their website, enabling the developers to better convert potential iPhone customers to subscribers. In recent weeks, Apple has made several changes to its App Store rules, enabling some companies to access lower commission rates or avoid mandatory 15% to 30% cuts. Playtika, an Israeli game company that has had numerous popular iOS apps, jumped 6.08% and Roblox, a gaming app for kids, closed up 1.77%. Shares of AppLovin, which owns several game studios, closed up 8.85%, while mobile game developer Zynga rose 6.28%. Streaming media, entertainment and publishing - these categories are all going to greatly benefit." "Gaming companies are certainly going to be one of the most significant beneficiaries of this. "This allows for companies to dramatically increase revenues and reduce their cost of goods," said Dan Burkhart, CEO of Recurly, which processes subscription transactions for app developers. The action came in a lawsuit filed by Epic Games, developer of Fortnite. ![]() Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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