Fortnite Creator Epic Games Is Now Suing Samsung And Google (Again) For Allegedly Sabotaging Third-Party Apps

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Several years after the initial filing, Epic Games won its antitrust lawsuit against Google for anticompetitive practices linked to the Google Play Appstore and its billing services. Even though the gaming giant lost its lawsuit against Apple, the victory over Google was certainly a massive feat.

Epic Games is back at it without another lawsuit against tech giants. (Images via Epic)

However, that’s not the end of the story, as Epic is back at it again. The Fortnite developer has now filed a second antitrust lawsuit against Google alongside Samsung, charging them of conspiring in anticompetitive practices to stifle competition in the Android ecosystem.

Fortnite maker believes Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature is ruining competition. Image Source: Epic

Epic’s latest lawsuit targets Samsung and Google. According to the developer, both of these tech giants attempted to block third-party apps through a feature dubbed “Auto Blocker.”

If you’re unaware, to download and play titles from the Epic Game Store on Android devices, gamers must download it as a third-party application. It looks like Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature is disrupting this process.

Today we filed a lawsuit against Google and Samsung alleging that they illegally colluded to block competition by turning the Auto Blocker feature *on by default* on Samsung devices. This undermines the progress made to open up Android devices to competition.…

— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) September 30, 2024

Epic states that the Auto Blocker feature is turned on by default, pushing players to follow a 21-step process to install the Epic Games Store on all Samsung devices. Epic requests the court to prevent the tech giants from engaging in these anti-competitive and unfair practices and ask Samsung to disable Auto Blocker by default and allow for healthy competition.

Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature is positioned as a security feature that prevents the installation of third-party apps from unverified sources and automatically blocks malicious activity. Initially, it was an opt-in feature, but the company later enabled it by default.

Epic Games believes the Auto Blocker feature is a direct violation of a similar lawsuit that it filed against Google. Back in December 2023, a jury ruled in favor of Epic in its antitrust case against Google regarding its control over the app market through various malpractices.

The Fortnite developer has suffered major losses due to lawsuits. | Image via Epic

Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeny stated that the company has ended up losing more than $1 billion during its effort to bring Fortnite back to various mobile app stores. This doesn’t even cover the legal fees incurred during the lawsuits against tech giants, which added millions to the overall cost.

Despite the huge legal trouble, Sweeny states that many of Epic’s losses happened due to the fact that its Battle Royale game wasn’t available on some of the most crucial platforms for so long. This led to the company losing out on making money from gamers who didn’t have a home console or PC but would’ve definitely tried playing the game if it was more accessible.

Currently, Fortnite‘s return to Apple mobile devices is limited to the EU region. This is because the latest regulations push companies operating in the EU to make third-party app stores available to download on their devices. However, this isn’t the case in other regions, so users still can’t jump into battle royale.

What do you think about Epic Games’ latest lawsuit against Samsung and Google? Let us know in the comments below.

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