Video game developer Epic Games sued Google and Samsung on Monday, alleging that the tech giants conspired to eliminate third-party app stores on Samsung devices.
The ruler of the case involves Samsung’s own “Auto Blocker” feature which prevents the use of any application, except those downloaded from Samsung’s own Galaxy Store or Google Play Store. This feature is active by default but may be changed in the options of the phone. Samsung says the tool helps to prevent apps from installing from third-party sources and aims at halting “malicious activity.”
In the second lawsuit against Google in San Francisco federal court, Epic Games claimed that Auto Blocker will “all but ensure that Google controls the distribution of Android apps.” The maker of “Fortnite,” Epic, wants to fight Google and prevent it from “negating the long overdue promise of competition in the Android App Distribution Market,” according to the complaint.
“Allowing this coordinated illegal anti-competitive dealing to proceed hurts developers and consumers and undermines both the jury’s verdict and regulatory and legislative progress around the world,” Epic Games said in a post on its official website.
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit. Samsung stated, “actively fosters market competition, enhances consumer choice, and conducts its operations fairly.”
“The features integrated into our devices are designed by Samsung’s core principles of security, privacy, and user control, and we remain fully committed to safeguarding users’ data. Users have the choice to disable Auto Blocker at any time,” Samsung said, adding that it plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.”
In August, Epic Games opened its Epic Games Store on iPhones in the EU and on Android devices globally. However, the company now argues that to download an app from a source outside the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store, the process is exceptionally onerous and takes 21 steps.
On Epic’s website, there is a support page with a guide on how to disable the Auto Blocker setting, but Epic claims that these steps, alongside Google and Samsung’s “install flow”, make the Epic Games Store installation a 21-step process.
In December, Epic triumphed in its first antitrust lawsuit against Google after a jury decided that Google’s Android app store had been protected by anticompetitive restraints that were adverse to consumers and developers.
Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” feature Epic claims that it was designed purposely in consultation with Google to counter the jury’s verdict in that case.
“No store can compete with the incumbents when disadvantaged in this way,” Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO said on X. “To have true competition, all reputable stores and apps must be free to compete on a level playing field.”
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