Epic Games Accuses Google and Samsung of Antitrust Violations
By Mike Scarcella and Supantha Mukherjee
(Reuters) – The maker of “Fortnite,” Epic Games, accused Alphabet’s Google and Samsung of conspiring to protect Google’s Play store from competition. Epic plans to file a lawsuit in the U.S. federal court in California, alleging that Samsung’s mobile security feature, Auto Blocker, is intended to deter users from downloading apps outside of the Play store or Samsung’s Galaxy store.
Epic claims that these actions violate U.S. antitrust law by reducing consumer choice and preventing competition that could lower app costs. Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, stated that Google misleads users into thinking competitors’ products are inferior and that Google is being disingenuous by pretending to protect users from installing apps from unknown sources, having previously distributed “Fortnite”.
Google did not respond to requests for comment, while Samsung vowed to challenge Epic’s claims vigorously. Samsung argued that its features, including Auto Blocker, are designed to enhance security and privacy for users, allowing them to disable the feature if they choose.
Epic contends that Auto Blocker was introduced to diminish the impact of a favorable U.S. court ruling they received against Google in December 2023 regarding app distribution. They expressed intentions to raise competition concerns with European Union regulators.
Previously, Epic had battles with Google and Apple over high commission rates on app store payments. After a near four-year ban, Epic became available on iPhones in the EU and Android devices last month.
Samsung launched Auto Blocker as an opt-in feature in late 2023 to protect users from potential malware, later making it the default in July and complicating the process to disable it.
Epic Games initiated legal proceedings against Google in 2020, accusing it of suppressing competition in app distribution and payments.
Comments (0)