Epic Games
September 30, 2024
Epic Games Unicorn News - September 30, 2024
Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against Google and Samsung, accusing them of conspiring to limit competition for app stores on Android devices. The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, targets Samsung's Auto Blocker feature, which Epic claims restricts app downloads to maintain high app prices and limit consumer choice.
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() Epic Games Accuses Google and Samsung of Blocking App Competition
On September 30, 2024, Epic Games announced its intention to file a lawsuit against Google and Samsung in a U.S. federal court in California. The lawsuit accuses both companies of conspiring to limit competition for app stores on Android devices. Epic Games claims that Samsung's security feature, Auto Blocker, was specifically designed to discourage users from downloading apps from any source other than Google's Play Store or Samsung's Galaxy Store. Epic argues that this action violates U.S. antitrust laws by diminishing consumer choice and keeping app prices high. This lawsuit follows a U.S. verdict from December 2023, which Epic won against Google, mandating easier access to apps from various sources. Epic also plans to address these competition concerns with European Union regulators. The Auto Blocker feature, set as a default since July 2024, allegedly obstructs the installation of apps from sources other than the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store, violating the jury's verdict from their previous legal victory against Google. This decision had allowed Epic to launch their own app store in August 2024. The lawsuit targets Samsung's Auto Blocker feature, which Epic claims was implemented in coordination with Google to undermine the recent U.S. court decision against Google's app store practices.
