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

AP Technology Writer

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.

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

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco – Epic’s second against Google – the company said Auto Blocker “will almost certainly solidify 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,” the lawsuit says.

“Allowing these coordinated illegal anti-competitive deals harms developers and consumers and undermines both jury 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 promotes competition in the market, increases consumer choice and conducts its business fairly.”

“The features built into our devices are designed in line with Samsung’s core principles of security, privacy and user control, and we remain fully committed to protecting users’ personal information. “Users have the option to disable the auto-blocker at any time,” Samsung said, adding that it intends to “vigorously challenge Epic Game’s unfounded claims.”

Epic launched its Epic Games Store on iPhones in the European Union and Android devices worldwide in August. The company says that downloading a third-party app outside of the Google Play Store or Samsung Galaxy Store now requires “an exceptionally involved 21-step process.” A support page on Epic’s website shows a four-step process for removing the auto-blocker setting. According to Epic, these steps, along with Google and Samsung’s “installation 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 was protected by anticompetitive barriers that harmed smartphone users and software developers.

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

“Literally no store can compete with the incumbents if it is disadvantaged in this way,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said on X. “To have real competition, all reputable stores and apps must have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field.”