Mario Bautista
Epic Games has launched a new lawsuit accusing Google and Samsung of colluding to stifle downloads outside of Google Play and Samsung’s Galaxy Store.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also told selected press in a conference call that Epic’s mobile Games Store has passed 10m installs to date – despite a 50% drop off rate for users who try to download the store due to the many pop-ups and “scare screens” that slow down the process.
Following on from its lengthy court battles with Apple and Google, Epic’s new suit accuses Google and Samsung of colluding to discourage installs of software outside of its own app stores through a new “auto-blocker” system added on all Samsung phones, which adds further steps to an already complex process.
Epic Games Store launched on Android worldwide and on iOS in the EU only on August 16. At the time the Fortnite maker complained of the “multiple steps, confusing device settings, and scare screens” players must navigate to download the store.
Epic Games boss Sweeney said that the Epic Games Store has “traction, but it is not an enormous amount”. “We’ve crossed 10m Epic Games Store installs on mobile devices since we launched five weeks ago,” he said. “Our target for the year has been 100m, and we feel that it’s totally achievable.“
Sweeney noted that the multiple steps required to install the store, which currently only hosts Fortnite, Fall Guys and Rocket League Sideswipe, has resulted in a “50% drop off rate” for those who begin the process.
As a result, “it’s very hard economically to get the store on enough people’s devices to have a critical mass of games and users,” Sweeney continued.
“But we’re at full speed, and we have an extremely robust marketing, user acquisition and incentive plan throughout the rest of the year, including things like giving Fortnite outfits to players who install the Epic Game Store on their mobile device. So we’re doing absolutely everything we can here.”
Sweeney also said he supported the introduction of further legislation like the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which enabled Epic Games Store to launch on iOS in the bloc.
“I think stronger legislation is always valuable and should be considered everywhere. I think every country in the world needs to have legislation on this topic,” he said.
Sweeney would welcome a speeding up of the process enforcing laws like the EU’s DMA, he said, and that legislation against platform monopolies “have to be written with the assumption that Apple and Google will be bad actors.”
On the new Google/Samsung suit, Sweeney accused the two tech firms of teaming up to introduce new “auto blocker” systems that would discourage users from installing software like the Epic Games Store.
Sweeney said that he has discussed the matter with Samsung, but those conversations will remain private while this litigation unfolds.
He suggested this auto-blocker process could be removed entirely if Samsung deployed a simple whitelisting process, or a notarisation process like the one that exists on macOS. Windows devices also scan for malware and viruses before the install begins, he noted, and urged Samsung to adopt one of these approaches.
“It’s our belief that this autoblocker effort was initiated by Google,” said Sweeney. “It comes from the extensive evidence produced in Epic versus Google, the US trial late last year, in which we saw, I think, hundreds of communications from within Google, from Google to Samsung, and from Samsung to Google, in which Google proposed numerous schemes to Samsung to disadvantage competition.”
Speaking more generally about Epic’s various legal battles, Sweeney noted that the Fortnite maker “would be making more money right now” had it not pulled its games from the App Store and Google Play and launched legal proceedings against Apple and Google.
“The cost of all this over the last four years has been really significant, and the benefits only come in the future when the obstructions have truly been eliminated,” he said.
“Epic and every developer in the entire industry will be vastly better off, so much so that it will have all been worth it, if and only if the fight eventually leads to a level playing field with fair competition for stores, free of monopoly junk fees and monopoly rents being imposed on apps.”
