Mario Bautista
Epic Games have found themselves in court, suing Google yet again, but this time it seems Samsung are also being pulled along for the ride. On Monday, September 30th, Epic Games made a statement saying:
We are filing a court case against Google and Samsung over coordinated efforts to block competition in app distribution on Samsung devices with Samsung’s default-on Auto Blocker feature…Our litigation alleges that Samsung’s recent implementation of the Auto Blocker feature was intentionally crafted in coordination with Google to preemptively undermine the U.S. District Court’s remedy following the jury’s verdict in Epic’s case against Google.
In that case that took place on November and December of 2023, a jury trial was held in which they found Google guilty of breaking anti-trust laws. Google did say in January 2024 that they would appeal the decision, but as of now nothing has been submitted, whereas Epic have already submitted injunction in August 2024.
In the new suit that was filed on Monday, Epic Games is claiming that players are having trouble installing the Epic Games Store on the newest generation of Samsung devices because of Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature which is set on as default and denies the installation of any applications not from the Google Play Store or Samsung Galaxy Store. They also explain that the ability to deactivate the Auto Blocker feature was not clear or easily explained.
Epic Games ended their statement by stating:
We are asking the court to prohibit Samsung’s and Google’s anti-competitive and unfair conduct and mandate that Samsung eliminate the Auto Blocker by default and enable competition. The jury’s decision was unanimous and clear; Google’s agreements with OEMs to block competition are illegal. This applies not only to Google, but to the device manufacturers that collude with them. We will take all necessary steps to ensure this decision is fully upheld.
Google called Epic Games suit “deliberately misleading, stating,”While Android allows sideloading, Google and the security community have warned users for years about the real risks associated with downloading apps directly from the web.”
