The developer of popular game Fortinite -- Epic Games -- has filed a lawsuit against Google and Samsung. The game developer said that the two companies coordinated efforts to block competition in app distribution on Samsung devices. This is a fresh case against Google by Epic Games as it had sued the tech giant earlier as well.
“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,” said Epic Games.
Earlier, the jury found that Google’s app store practices are illegal, including the unlawful agreements Google enters into with phone manufacturers such as Samsung.
Epic Games has wanted companies to allow other app stores, which it alleges Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature doesn’t do. Auto Blocker is a setting that Samsung introduced on their mobile devices in October 2023 as an opt-in feature that disables the user’s ability to install apps from any sources other than the Google Play Store and the Samsung Galaxy Store.
The game developer argues that as the world’s largest Android phone manufacturer, Samsung’s Galaxy Store is well-positioned to be a meaningful competitor to the Google Play Store. "The shady handshake deals proposed by senior Google executives to Samsung and the agreements they have entered into were designed to disadvantage competition and enrich Google’s bottom line at the expense of developers and consumers,” Epic Games argued.
The developer is 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,” Epic Games added.
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