Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over phone settings, accusing them of violating antitrust laws

[October 01, 2024]  By SARAH PARVINI

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Video game maker Epic Games sued Google and Samsung on Monday, accusing the tech companies of coordinating to block third-party competition in application distribution on Samsung devices.

At issue is Samsung's “Auto Blocker” feature, which only allows for apps from authorized sources, such as the Samsung Galaxy Store or Google Play Store, to be installed. The feature is turned on by default but can be changed in a phone's settings. The tool prevents the installation of applications from unauthorized sources and blocks “malicious activity,” according to Samsung.

In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court — Epic's second against Google — the company said Auto Blocker “is virtually guaranteed to entrench Google’s dominance over Android app distribution.” Epic, developer of the popular game “Fortnite,” filed the lawsuit to prevent Google 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 website.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Samsung said it “actively fosters market competition, enhances consumer choice, and conducts its operations fairly.”

The Google building is seen in New York, Feb. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

“The features integrated into our devices are designed in accordance with Samsung’s core principles of security, privacy, and user control, and we remain fully committed to safeguarding users’ personal 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.”

Epic launched its Epic Games Store on iPhones in the European Union and on Android devices worldwide in August. The company claims that it now takes “an exceptionally onerous 21-step process” to download a third-party app outside of the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store. A support page on Epic's website shows a four-step process to remove the Auto Blocker setting. Epic said those steps, combined with Google’s and Samsung’s “install flow,” are part of the 21 steps to download the Epic Games Store.

Epic won its first antitrust lawsuit against Google in December after a jury found that Google’s Android app store had been protected by anti-competitive barriers that damaged smartphone consumers and software developers.

The game maker says the “Auto Blocker” feature was intentionally crafted in coordination with Google to preemptively undermine the jury’s verdict in that case.

“Literally no store can compete with the incumbents when disadvantaged in this way,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney 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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