Epic Games, the maker of the popular “Fortnite” video game, has filed a lawsuit against Alphabet’s Google and Samsung, accusing them of conspiring to limit competition in the mobile app market. The complaint, set to be filed in a U.S. federal court in California, alleges that Samsung’s mobile security feature, Auto Blocker, is designed to deter users from downloading apps outside of Google’s Play Store and Samsung’s Galaxy Store, which has seen reduced focus from the company.
Epic argues that both companies are violating U.S. antitrust laws by diminishing consumer choice and preventing competition that could lead to lower app prices. Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, stated, “It’s about unfair competition by misleading users into thinking competitors’ products are inferior to the company’s products themselves.” He criticized Google’s justification for Auto Blocker, saying, “Google is pretending to keep the user safe, claiming you can’t install apps from unknown sources, while they know what Fortnite is, as they’ve distributed it before.”
Samsung responded, stating that it intends to “vigorously contest Epic Games’ baseless claims,” asserting that the features integrated into its devices prioritize security, privacy, and user control. Samsung noted that users have the option to disable Auto Blocker at any time.
Epic contends that Samsung’s Auto Blocker is a response to a favorable ruling it received against Google in December 2023, which mandates that Google must simplify the process for users to obtain apps from alternative sources. Furthermore, Epic plans to raise its competition concerns with European Union regulators, who have long scrutinized Google’s business practices.
Previously, Epic had clashed with both Google and Apple over app store policies that impose commissions of up to 30% on payments. After nearly four years of being banned, “Fortnite” returned to iPhones in the EU and Android devices globally last month. Samsung introduced the Auto Blocker feature in late 2023 as an opt-in measure to protect users from potentially malicious apps, but Epic claims it was later set as the default option in July, making it challenging to disable.
Epic Games had initiated a lawsuit against Google in 2020, alleging that the company stifled competition through its control over app distribution and payment systems
