Epic is suing Samsung and Google for allegedly blocking the distribution of third-party apps

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Epic Games is suing Google and Samsung over what it claims are “coordinated efforts” to block the distribution of third-party apps on Samsung devices.

THE Fortnite the developer believes that Samsung's implementation of an “Auto Blocker” feature prevents other marketplaces such as the Epic Games Store from “competing on a level playing field”.

Epic says Auto Blocker was introduced as an opt-in feature that prevents users from installing software from outside the Google Play Store. It claims that Auto Blocker has since been turned into a default that can only be bypassed by following an “exceptionally onerous 21-step process.”

The company has posted a walkthrough of that process on its website and wants the U.S. District Court in California to force Samsung to remove Auto Blocker by default on its devices.

Epic says so previous legal battle with Google shows that the company has a “long history of inducing Samsung into anticompetitive dealings” and claims that “Google has a habit of paying billions to OEMs to prevent competition.”

“Comprehensive and detailed evidence emerged during Epic's trial against Google of Google's plans to pay Samsung not to compete with the Google Play Store and to prevent other app stores from attempting to compete,” we read in a statement from Epic.

Epic is demanding a jury trial and claims that Google and Samsung's behavior is harming developers and consumers.

“Our litigation alleges that Samsung's recent implementation of the Auto Blocker feature was intentionally implemented in coordination with Google to preemptively undermine the U.S. District Court's remedy following the jury verdict in Epic v. Google. panel found that Google's app store practices are illegal, including the illegal deals Google enters into with phone makers like Samsung,” the statement continues.

“Allowing this coordinated, illegal, anticompetitive deal to proceed harms developers and consumers and undermines both the jury verdict and regulatory and legislative progress around the world.”

You can learn more about the lawsuit (and read the full complaint) at Epic Games website.

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