Google loses monopoly case to Fortnite maker Epic Games

The maker of popular video game Fortnite has won a US court battle against Google, with a jury deciding that the search giant had operated an illegal monopoly.

Epic Games sued Google in 2020, accusing it of unlawfully making its app store dominant over rivals.

Hundreds of millions of people use the store to install apps for smartphones powered by Google's Android software.

Google said it would challenge the outcome.

However Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney welcomed the verdict.

"Victory over Google! After four weeks of detailed court testimony, the California jury found against the Google Play monopoly on all counts," Mr Sweeney wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He said the court would start considering the issue of compensation in January.