Ok, sure. But the claim was that Google is absolved from "behaving monopolistically" because they permit ex-Play Store distribution. In practice, it's so onerous that not even a brand as strong as Fortnite can make it work.

Whether you prevent ex-app-store distribution through fiat or through engineering, the result is the same. So I don't think the distinction is important.

I don't know why you would think that, there's no additional guarantee on the Play Store.