Last year, Epic Games emerged victorious in court against Google in an antitrust case that accused the Google Play Store of being an illegal monopoly. Now, Epic has launched another legal battle against Google, alleging that the company colluded with Samsung to make it challenging for users to install the Epic Games Store on their mobile devices.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced the lawsuit on X, and the company provided a detailed explanation of the case on its official website. Essentially, Epic claims that Google instructed Samsung to employ its Auto Blocker feature, which forces users who attempt to download the Epic Games Store app to navigate through several cumbersome steps.
While the ease of downloading and using the Epic Games Store app is a significant aspect of the lawsuit, the broader dispute between Google and Epic revolves around the 30% fees Google charges for games and apps sold through Google Play. Epic has faced similar issues with Apple's App Store, but has not yet succeeded in its legal battle against Apple. The Epic Games Store enables Epic to set its own prices and compete directly with both Google Play and the App Store.
According to The Verge, Sweeney informed journalists that Epic lacks concrete evidence of collusion between Google and Samsung, but hopes that such proof will surface if the case proceeds to discovery. He also revealed that Epic and Samsung were in discussions about "whitelisting" the Epic Games Store and other legitimate apps to bypass the Auto Blocker feature, thereby simplifying the installation process for users. The new lawsuit was filed after these discussions fell through.
"Contrary to Epic Game's assertions, Samsung actively promotes market competition, enhances consumer choice, and conducts its operations fairly," a Samsung spokesperson stated via CNET. "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 option to disable Auto Blocker at any time. We intend to vigorously contest Epic Game's baseless claims."
Unless a settlement is reached between the three companies, this case could be headed back to court. However, there is currently no timeline for this to occur.
