Some users may be aware that Epic Games, the Fortnite developer, has had its app shop for some time, known as the Epic Games shop.
Last December, the company won an antitrust lawsuit against Google, which determined that Google had an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android smartphones.
Despite the victory, Epic’s legal battle appears to be far from over. Epic is suing Google again, but this time it has also listed Samsung as a defendant. This time, its attention is focused on Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature.
In the current complaint, Epic Games claims that Samsung’s Auto Blocker function makes it harder for consumers to install the Epic Games Store on the latest Samsung devices.
This is because Samsung has activated Auto Blocker, which only enables app installs from the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store by default and bans third-party app installation unless you disable the option.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has even suggested that Google and Samsung are collaborating, but he concedes there is no specific evidence for this assertion.
Sean Hollister of The Verge tested these allegations and discovered that his Samsung smartphone did prohibit him from installing the Epic Games Store, but it wasn’t that simple.
There were no instructions on how to deactivate Autoblocker. He then typed “turn off auto blocker” into the search field, which produced results but required navigating through multiple panels.
In addition to winning against Google and legally showing that Google had a monopoly on Android app sharing, Epic Games won a lawsuit against Apple.
Apple had refused to allow Epic to open its app store on iOS devices, but the EU pressed Apple’s hand. However, Apple continues to fight, claiming that its approval is just temporary.
It is unclear how Google and Samsung will respond, but both businesses may fight and argue that they are not making it difficult to install the Epic Games Store. Once again, we will most likely have to wait for the court system to resolve the situation.
