Fortnite video game maker Epic Games on Monday accused Alphabet Google and Samsung, the world’s largest Android phone maker, of conspiring to protect the Google Play store from competition.
Epic said it will file a lawsuit in US federal court in California, alleging that Samsung’s mobile security feature, called Auto Blocker, was intended to prevent users from downloading apps from sources other than the Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store, which the Korean company decided to put it on the back burner.
Samsung and Google are violating US antitrust laws by limiting consumer choice and preventing competition that would make apps cheaper, US-based Epic, which is backed by China’s Tencent, said.
“This is unfair competition by misleading users into believing that competitors’ products are inferior to the company’s own products,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told reporters.
“Google pretends to keep the user safe by saying you’re not allowed to install apps from unknown sources. Well, Google knows what Fortnite is because they’ve distributed it in the past.”
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Samsung said it plans to “vigorously dispute Epic Game’s baseless claims.”
Epic said Samsung’s Auto Blocker was designed to lessen the impact of a US ruling Epic won against Google in December 2023, which is expected to make it easier for the company to get apps from other sources.
Epic said it would also raise its competition concerns with European Union regulators, who have long scrutinized Google’s business practices.
Epic has previously clashed with Google and Apple over their rules to charge up to 30 percent in fees for app store payments. After being banned for nearly four years, it was once again available on iPhones in the European Union and globally on Google Android devices last month.
Samsung introduced Auto Blocker on its smartphones in late 2023 as an additional feature to protect users from downloading apps that may contain malware. Epic said Samsung made Auto Blocker the default setting in July and made it intentionally difficult to disable or bypass.
In 2020, Cary, North Carolina-based Epic Games sued Google, claiming it stifled competition through its control over app distribution and payments.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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