Epic Sues Google Again, Adds Samsung to Lawsuit

Four years after Epic Games successfully sued Google over an illegal app store monopoly, resulting in a favorable verdict in December, the company has initiated another antitrust lawsuit. This time, Epic Games is targeting both Google and Samsung, accusing them of conspiring to undermine third-party app stores.

The current lawsuit centers on Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” feature, which is activated by default on new Samsung phones. This feature prevents users from installing apps that are not from Google or Samsung’s app stores, with no process available for rival stores to become “authorized.” According to Epic, this effectively eliminates competition from third-party app stores.

Epic Games’ previous lawsuits against Google and Apple, filed in August 2020, occurred before it had its own mobile app store. The company has since launched the Epic Games Store on Android globally and on iPhones in the European Union, where regulations now allow alternate stores.

Epic alleges that just before its store launch, Samsung made Auto Blocker a default feature, impeding new phone buyers from installing competing apps. Epic claims this change imposes an arduous 21-step process to download a third-party app store, significantly discouraging users from completing the installation.

Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, argues that Auto Blocker’s purported security benefits are misleading, as it does not assess the safety of specific apps or sources before blocking them. According to Epic, the feature is designed to stifle competition rather than protect against malware.

In conversations with journalists, Sweeney admitted that there is currently no evidence of collusion between Google and Samsung, hoping that the discovery process will uncover such information. He also acknowledged that he did not ask Samsung to make the Epic Games Store an “authorized source,” arguing that his fight is for the broader developer community, not just Epic.

Sweeney mentioned that Epic requested Samsung to either turn off Auto Blocker by default or establish a transparent whitelisting process for legitimate apps, but these discussions did not reach a fruitful conclusion. Consequently, Epic shared a draft of its legal complaint with Samsung before proceeding with the lawsuit.

Samsung has been asked for clarification on whether Auto Blocker scans apps for threats or if it collaborated with Google on the feature, but no response was received at the time of reporting. Samsung’s support page indicates that Auto Blocker is set to “On” by default but can be disabled during the initial phone setup.

Epic has not yet presented data to demonstrate harm caused by Auto Blocker, noting only two new Samsung phone models have shipped with the feature turned on by default. Despite this, the Epic Games Store has reached 10 million mobile installs, though Sweeney aims for 100 million by the year’s end.

Historically, Epic argued that Google’s restrictions on third-party apps, such as the “Unknown Sources” setting, deterred new users from installing rival app stores. Although the jury in Epic v. Google found that Epic was harmed by Google’s conduct, specifics regarding these restrictions were not addressed.

Epic seeks a jury trial for the new lawsuit and continues to closely monitor other companies that might introduce similar barriers to third-party app stores. Sweeney expressed hope that Samsung remains the only company implementing such practices.

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