When Epic Games wants something, the company will do everything to get it, even if it means spending millions of dollars on lawsuits. After having been in confrontation with Apple for several years in order to evolve the distribution policy of applications and payment methods within applications, Epic Games is now attacking two other giants: Google and Samsung.
Epic Games is fighting for healthier competition
Epic Games yesterday launched a new battle against two tech giants: Google and Samsung. The publisher of the famous game Fortnite accuses them of anti-competitive practices, and this time, the dispute concerns a specific functionality of Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
At the center of the complaint filed by Epic Games is a feature present by default on the Galaxy. Called Auto Blocker, this option is designed to prevent the installation of apps from untrusted sources, by blocking the download of apps from alternative stores to the Google Play Store. According to Epic, this measure considerably limits competition in the distribution of applications and strengthens Google’s monopoly, while limiting user choices.
Even though Galaxy users have the option to disable Auto Blocker during initial setup of their device or afterward in Settings, Epic Games contends that many of them are either unaware of the feature’s existence, or don’t know how to modify it. The fact that Auto Blocker is enabled by default poses, according to Epic, a real problem for third-party developers looking to offer their applications outside of the Play Store.
A Google-Samsung collaboration?
Epic Games says this situation is not a simple accident. According to the complaint, Google and Samsung collaborated to implement Auto Blocker with the aim of restricting users’ access to alternative stores, thereby locking Galaxy smartphones into the Play Store ecosystem. This approach is seen by Epic as an example of “anti-competitive coordination”.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, said that this lawsuit is not intended to favor his own company, but is intended to defend all developers. According to him, this fight against the restrictive practices of large platforms is essential to guarantee a fair market.
Epic’s requests and the response from Samsung and Google
In its complaint, Epic Games asks the courts to force Samsung to deactivate Auto Blocker as a default setting, which will allow users to have true freedom of choice when using their device.
Samsung and Google, for their part, quickly reacted to these accusations, calling them “unfounded and worthless”. They believe that the Auto Blocker feature is there to protect users from potential security threats from unverified sources and has nothing to do with a desire to restrict competition.
A new battle for Epic Games
This legal action is reminiscent of the famous conflict between Epic Games and Apple over similar issues regarding application distribution practices. This new battle could prove even more difficult, but Epic Games is well known for not giving up easily when business practices deemed unfair hinder its business, the company seems ready to fight this fight to the end.
As this case prepares to be argued in court, the verdict could have significant implications for the future of app distribution on Android devices. If Epic Games succeeds, it could open up new opportunities for Android developers.
