Epic Games Slams New Lawsuit Against Samsung and Google

Epic Games has launched a major lawsuit against Samsung and Google, alleging anti-competitive practices.

Google is heading back to court with Epic Games, but with a major ally. Epic Games announced today a new lawsuit against former partner Samsung , along with continued rival Google. The Fortnite developer highlighted that the Auto Blocker setting on Samsung phones creates challenges for consumers trying to install their client to play the game. They claim this new setting, or its latest iteration, makes it easier for players to download the game from Samsung and Google’s app stores compared to other mobile app stores.

Eurogamer was among the first to outline the situation involving the three tech giants. “The instigator of this complaint is one and only one thing: that Samsung recently introduced a piece of technology it calls Auto Blocker, which blocks side-loading of software—it blocks the installation of software from stores that aren’t its own or the Google Play store ,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a press briefing ahead of the litigation being made public. Sweeney suggested this could be a joint stand against his company.

The Auto Blocker setting is another “scare screen” tactic similar to those used by Google Play in the past. When users attempt to download the Epic Games Store, for example, they are warned with technical and intimidating language that doing so could put their device at risk. Additionally, they are required to disable Auto Blocker through a tedious process within their phone’s settings. Sweeney explained that Android phones already present unnecessary alerts and extra steps, which prevent about 50 percent of users from completing the download. He believes Samsung’s Auto Blocker will add to this problem.

“For your security, your phone currently isn’t allowed to install unknown apps from this source,” one alert message reads. “Well, Google knows what Fortnite is—they’ve distributed it in the past,” Sweeney noted. “Google knows what the Epic Games Store is; they’ve dealt with us. So this warning in itself is misleading.” Sweeney made the same point about Samsung, noting that they also know what Fortnite is. “Samsung knows the Epic Games Store, and yet they’re calling it an ‘unknown app,'” he continued.

Adding to the speculation of collusion between Samsung and Google, Sweeney claims that Auto Blocker is a personal attack on Epic Games after their previous victory against Google. “[This is] a new Samsung warning that came in after we won Epic vs. Google,” Sweeney said. “A feature Samsung turned on by default for all [new] users, which caught us off-guard.”

From Samsung’s perspective, the Auto Blocker is meant to help “keep you safe from security threats, suspicious activity, and privacy risks.” It also works to block malware in messaging apps, and warns you when unknown commands or software updates are initiated by devices connected via USB. Again, these warnings have been added in to discourage “unknown apps”, but Sweeney commented that the Epic Games Store should not qualify as an unknown app.

Sweeney also added that Auto Blocker “is not to protect the user from malware. Windows and Mac have perfectly good mechanisms to protect against malware, and Epic completely supports platforms protecting against malware.” He notes that something else is at play, detailing the litigation is about Samsung and Google mischaracterizing the Epic Games Store app as an “unknown and potentially harmful.”

From Epic Games’ broader goals, the company recently reached its target of 10 million mobile installs. However, they aim to reach 100 million installs by the end of the year. Epic Games said it is launching legal action now following Samsung’s recent move to have Auto Blocker switched on by default for new phones. Their objective with these legal proceedings is to have Auto Blocker turned off by default to “enable competition.” While everything they are saying makes sense on paper, only time will tell in the court proceedings.