Epic Games sues Google and Samsung for auto-blocking Fortnite download

Epic Games revealed today that its filing another anti-competition lawsuit, this time against two major tech companies: Google and Samsung. This time, the complaint is that Samsung’s Auto-Blocker feature prevents users from easily downloading and installing its store. Epic alleges that both companies illegally conspired to make installing the store prohibitively difficult. This comes after Epic’s lengthy legal battle against Google and Apple, accusing both companies of stifling competition on their platforms.

According to Epic’s complaint, Samsung’s Auto-Blocker combined with Google’s software turns the download of the Epic Games Store — which, according to CEO Tim Sweeney, should be a relatively simple procedure — into a 21-step process that involves turning Auto-Blocker off and giving your mobile browser permission to install the app. This, it claims, makes the process so difficult by design that users give up, and therefore won’t install an app that could potentially compete with Google’s Play Store (and Samsung’s Galaxy Store).

As the complaint reads: “The intended effect of Auto Blocker is clear: it would undo the remedies the Court imposes on Google and doom any attempt to open for competition the market for Android App
Distribution… Epic brings this case with the sole purpose of preventing Defendants’ anticompetitive actions from undoing Epic’s successful antitrust litigation against Google and negating the long overdue promise of competition in the Android App Distribution Market.”

Epic’s allegations and goals

Epic Games’ recent legal history has seen it bring antitrust litigation against phone manufacturers. Part of the current complaint is that Google has maintained a close relationship with Samsung, and even paid the latter in order to keep the Galaxy Store from meaningfully competing with the Play Store. Epic adds that, thanks to Samsung’s smartphone market dominance, “Auto Blocker is virtually guaranteed to entrench Google’s dominance over Android App Distribution, preventing third-party app stores, such as the Epic Games Store, from reaching any sizable audience on Android.”

So what’s the solution? During a briefing with the press, Sweeney said he’d be satisfied with either the Auto-Blocker switched to being off by default, or by Samsung implementing a transparent and easy whitelisting procedure to allow honest apps to bypass it. Auto-Blocker, he alleged, was intended to block competition rather than to protect the user. He admitted at the briefing that Epic doesn’t have clear evidence of Google’s and Samsung’s collusion.

A Samsung spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge, “Contrary to Epic Game’s assertions, Samsung actively fosters market competition, enhances consumer choice, and conducts its operations fairly.” I plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.” Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson said in a statement, “a meritless lawsuit.”