Epic Games Alleges Samsung’s Auto Blocker Feature Exploited User Trust

Key Takeaways

• Epic Games has accused Google and Samsung of colluding to stifle app store competition.
• The game company plans to file a lawsuit against the Big Tech firms in California.
• The changes center on Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, which must be disabled before users can download apps from Epic’s app store.

A year after landing a major legal victory over Google, Epic Games is once again gearing up to take the Big Tech company to court for stifling competition.

At the center of the latest dispute is Epic’s app store. Having spent years fighting Apple and Google for the right to distribute games via its platform, Epic has accused Google of colluding with Samsung to block access to the alternative app store.

Epic’s Fight for App Store Independence

While Epic Games launched the desktop version of its app store in 2018, its efforts to establish a mobile foothold faced stiff resistance.

The conflict  with Apple and Google erupted in August 2020 when Epic introduced an alternative payment system in Fortnite to bypass the 30% commission both app stores charged for in-app purchases. 

In response, Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their platforms, prompting Epic to file lawsuits against both companies, accusing them of anti-competitive practices and monopolistic control over app distribution.

Legal Battles

In the U.S., Epic filed lawsuits against both Apple and Google in 2020.

The case against Apple was largely a failure, with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruling in favor of the defendant on nine of ten counts.

However, Epic had more luck in its fight against Google. Following a Jury trial in 2023, the court sided with Epic on all 11 counts, ruling that Google had engaged in anti-competitive practices with the Play Store and its related billing system.

Beyond the U.S., Epic has also filed complaints  with the European Commission and turned the bloc’s new Digital Markets Act to its advantage, winning favorable decisions from antitrust authorities and forcing Big Tech gatekeepers to open up their platforms to third parties.

Having secured important legal victories in Europe and the U.S., in August 2024, Epic launched mobile app stores for Android and iOS (although the iOS version is only available in the EU).

Samsung’s Auto Blocker

While Epic’s new mobile app stores represent the culmination of a yearslong legal battle to secure independence from Apple and Google, the rollout hasn’t been smooth.

With the release of One UI 6.1.1, Samsung changed the settings on its devices to make it harder to download apps that don’t originate from Google Play Store or Samsung Galaxy Store.

The security feature, known as Auto Blocker, was previously opt-in. However, right when the first app store to seriously threaten the established order was about to be released, Samsung made Autoblocker a default setting. 

The timing of the Auto Blocker change was a little too convenient for Epic, which has now accused Samsung and Google of orchestrated specifically to stifle alternative app stores.

“Allowing this coordinated illegal anti-competitive dealing to proceed hurts developers and consumers and undermines both the jury’s verdict and regulatory and legislative progress around the world,” the company said in a statement .

About the Author

James Morales

Although his background is in crypto and FinTech news, these days, James likes to roam across CCN’s editorial breadth, focusing mostly on digital technology. Having always been fascinated by the latest innovations, he uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.

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