Months after winning its antitrust case against Google, Fortnite creator Epic Games has once again sued the tech giant along with Samsung.
Epic Games accused both Google and Samsung of conspiring with each other “to block competition in app distribution on Samsung devices.”
At the heart of the new lawsuit is the ‘Auto Blocker’ feature that allegedly turns on by default on all Samsung devices.
“Auto Blocker is the latest in a long series of dealings in which Google and Samsung have agreed not to compete to protect Google’s monopoly power,” Epic Games explained on a blog post. “Auto Blocker cements the Google Play Store as the only viable way to get apps on Samsung devices, blocking every other store from competing on a level playing field.”
What is Auto Blocker?
The Auto Blocker option on Samsung smartphones is a feature that disables the user’s ability to install apps from any sources other than the Google Play Store and the Samsung Galaxy Store.
Reportedly, when the feature was first rolled out in October 2023, it was an opt-in feature, but has become enabled by default on all Samsung devices from July this year. Thus, every user is required to change their device settings before they can download and install any app from third party app stores or the web.
One of Epic Games’ key allegations is that Samsung has made it difficult for users to turn off the default Auto Blocker setting.
“Auto Blocker defaulting to ‘on’ requires an exceptionally onerous 21 step process to download an app outside of the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store,” the company said.
“Auto Blocker undermines the jury’s unanimous decision in Epic v. Google, specifically that “Google entered into one or more agreements that unreasonably restrained trade in a relevant antitrust market” including “Agreements with OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] that sell mobile devices,” the game developer added.
Aim behind the lawsuit:
Epic Games is asking the court to prohibit Samsung and Google’s anti-competitive and unfair conduct by ordering Samsung to eliminate the Auto Blocker by default.
“We will take all necessary steps to ensure this decision is fully upheld,” it said.
Google has decried the lawsuit as “deliberately misleading”, while Samsung announced plans to “vigorously contest” it.
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