Epic Games Accuses Samsung, Google of Scheme to Block Rival Apps

“Fortnite” video game maker Epic Games on Monday accused Alphabet’s Google and Samsung, the world’s largest Android phone maker, of conspiring to protect the Google Play store from competition.

Epic filed a lawsuit in US federal court in California, claiming that a Samsung mobile security feature called Auto Blocker was intended to discourage users from downloading apps from sources other than the Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store, which the Korean company chose to put them on their backs. burner.

Samsung and Google are violating US antitrust law by reducing consumer choice and preventing competition that would make apps less expensive, US-based Epic, backed by China’s Tencent, said.

“This is unfair competition to mislead users into thinking that competitors’ products are inferior to the company’s own products,” Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney told reporters.

“Google claims to keep the user safe by saying that you are not allowed to install apps from unknown sources. Well, Google knows what Fortnite is, as they’ve shared it in the past.”

Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Samsung said it plans to “vigorously dispute Epic Games’ baseless claims.”

“Features built into its devices are designed in accordance with Samsung’s core principles of security, privacy and user control, and we remain fully committed to protecting users’ personal data,” Samsung said in the statement, adding that users have options to disable. Auto Blocker at any time.

Epic said Samsung’s Auto Blocker was designed to lessen the impact of a US verdict Epic won against Google in December 2023, which should force the company to make apps easier to obtain from other sources.

Epic said it would raise its competition concerns with European Union regulators, which have long scrutinized Google’s business practices.

Epic has previously clashed with Google and Apple over their rules of charging up to 30% commission on app store payments. After being banned for nearly four years, it was made available again on iPhones in the European Union and worldwide on Google’s Android devices last month.

Samsung introduced Auto Blocker to its smartphones in late 2023 as an opt-in feature to protect users from downloading apps that may contain malware. Epic said Samsung made Auto Blocker the default setting in July and intentionally made it difficult to disable or bypass.

Cary, North Carolina-based Epic Games sued Google in 2020, claiming it stifled competition through its control over app distribution and payments.

(Reporting by Scarcella, Mukherjee and Yang; Editing by David Bario, Cynthia Osterman and David Evans)