Epic is suing Google — again — and now Samsung too

Four years aft Epic sued Google for moving an amerciable app store monopoly — a lawsuit it won this past December — Epic is suing again. The Fortnite crippled developer has filed a second antitrust suit against Google, and present additionally Samsung, accusing them of illegally conspiring to undermine third-party app stores.

The suit revolves astir Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” feature, which present comes turned-on-by-default connected caller Samsung phones. While it’s turned on, it automatically keeps users from installing apps unless they travel from “authorized sources” — namely, Google and Samsung’s app stores. Epic claims there’s nary process for immoderate rival store to go “authorized.”

When Epic filed its archetypal lawsuits against Google and Apple successful August 2020, it didn’t yet person its ain mobile app store. Now, it does: On August 16th, it launched the Epic Games Store connected Android globally and connected iPhones successful the European Union wherever the EU Digital Markets Act forced Apple to let alternate stores.

But a period earlier it could motorboat its ain store, Epic alleges, Samsung abruptly decided to marque Auto Blocker much oregon little on-by-default — making it harder for caller telephone buyers to instal competing apps themselves.

Epic claims it present requires “an exceptionally onerous 21-step process” to download a third-party app store onto a Samsung phone, making it that overmuch much apt users volition springiness up determination on the way.

While “21 steps” seems similar an exaggeration to maine (Epic’s ain website claims turning disconnected Auto Blocker takes conscionable four!) I tin spot the company’s constituent erstwhile I effort it connected my ain Samsung phone. Not lone does Auto Blocker forestall maine from installing the caller Epic Games Store, the “can’t instal app” pop-up no longer tells me however to crook Auto Blocker off.

When I hunt for “turn disconnected car blocker” successful my Samsung phone’s cosmopolitan hunt bar, determination are nary applicable hunt results; erstwhile I hunt for “auto blocker,” I person to pat done respective further screens to unopen it off. One of them asks maine if I’m truly sure, claiming “Auto Blocker keeps your telephone harmless by blocking threats and different suspicious activity.”

Today, Epic alleges that committedness of information is wholly bogus: “Auto Blocker conducts nary appraisal of the information oregon information of immoderate circumstantial root oregon immoderate circumstantial app earlier blocking an installation,” the ineligible ailment reads.

“The thing’s not designed to support against malware, which would beryllium a wholly morganatic purpose,” says Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. “The thing’s designed to forestall competition.”

In a roundtable interrogation with journalists, though, Sweeney admits helium doesn’t yet person impervious that Google and Samsung colluded — he’s hoping that comes retired successful the ineligible find process, similar so precise galore embarrassing things did successful Epic v. Google. He besides admits helium didn’t really inquire Samsung if the institution would freely marque the Epic Games Store an “authorized source.”

Like with Sweeney’s erstwhile lawsuits, helium claims that’s due to the fact that he’s warring connected behalf of each app developers, not conscionable Epic.

“If we’d fought Epic v. Apple and Epic v. Google solely connected the ground of Epic getting peculiar privileges, possibly colony discussions with Apple and Google mightiness person been fruitful,” says Sweeney. “But if we did that, we’d beryllium selling retired each developers.”

Instead, helium says, helium privately asked Samsung to either alteration Auto Blocker truthful it’s turned disconnected by default, oregon to make “an honorable whitelisting process” that would automatically fto honorable apps done Samsung’s caller barrier. When Samsung and Epic couldn’t hold connected “the basis” of that whitelisting process, helium says Epic threatened ineligible action, adjacent sharing a draught mentation of today’s ineligible ailment with Samsung.

We’ve asked Samsung to corroborate oregon contradict whether Auto Blocker really scans an app for threats oregon suspicious activity, and whether it worked with Google connected the feature. We haven’t heard backmost yet.

I fishy Samsung volition constituent retired that it doesn’t secretly oregon softly crook connected Auto Blocker, though; it lets users choose. “The default mounting for Auto Blocker is acceptable to On successful the phone’s archetypal setup wizard, but you tin besides alteration this mounting to Off during the archetypal setup,” the company’s enactment leafage notes.

It’s besides not yet wide whether Epic has been harmed by Auto Blocker. Only 2 caller Samsung phones person shipped since Samsung turned it on-by-default. While Sweeney claims Google’s erstwhile attempts to adhd friction to third-party apps (“Unknown Sources”) caused fractional the radical who clicked “download” to springiness up partway, helium admits helium doesn’t yet person information showing that the Samsung diagnostic is making things worse.

He says the Epic Games Store has present reached 10 cardinal mobile installs, against a “totally achievable” 100 cardinal people by the extremity of the year. He characterizes that arsenic “traction but not an tremendous amount.”

In Epic v. Google, the institution argued that the Unknown Sources instal travel made it truthful hard to pull caller users to a rival app store, Sweeney was yet forced to bring Fortnite to Google’s store even though helium promised Samsung helium wouldn’t. Though the assemblage wasn’t asked to determine connected “Unknown Sources” specifically, they did determine that Epic was harmed by Google’s behaviour overall.

Epic is asking for a assemblage proceedings this clip arsenic well.

Speaking of Epic v. Google, we’re expecting Judge James Donato to issue his last bid determination immoderate time now, and it’s casual to ideate a satellite wherever Epic v. Samsung gets affected by however helium decides to alteration Google’s behavior. If helium grants Epic’s biggest asks, the Google Play Store would beryllium forced to transportation the Epic Games Store and different app stores inside of it and third-party app stores similar Epic’s would besides get entree to Google Play’s full app catalog. In that world, Auto Blocker seems a small little relevant.

But a Google entreaty is guaranteed, and Epic is positioning today’s caller suit arsenic a mode to forestall and dissuade Google and partners from pursuing a “malicious compliance strategy” successful the meanwhile. You could adjacent reason that’s what Judge Donato asked for: successful Epic v. Google, helium repeatedly told Epic’s lawyers that helium wouldn’t assistance their petition for an anti-circumvention proviso to support Google from getting originative with workarounds.

“We don’t bash don’t-break-the-law injunctions... if you person a problem, you tin travel back,” he said past November.

Sweeney wouldn’t needfully perpetrate to suing different companies that erect barriers to third-party app stores, but says Epic is “watching that precise closely.”

“Fortunately cipher has done this but Samsung, and we anticipation to support it that way.”