Epic Games is on a lawsuit spree and has now filed a new suit against Google and Samsung for having the Auto Blocker feature enabled by default and working together to limit competition in the Android space. This new case follows Epic Games’ drawn-out battle with Apple and the App Store, and now this new issue has arisen during its return to Android.
For the uninitiated, Epic Games has a point here, if you want to install games from the Epic Store on Android, you have to first get that store working on your phone, and for that, you have to install a third-party app that isn’t available on the Google PlayStore and on Samsung devices as well. This Auto Blocker feature is coming in between that process and making it harder to install the Epic Games Store if you’re an Android user.
According to Epic, Google and Samsung are allegedly colluding to limit competition on Samsung devices, which undermines the progress made in opening up the Android Operating System to competition.
Related:
Fortnite Is Finally Back on iOS & Android With the Epic Games Store, Eat Your Heart Out AppleThis announcement was made in a blog post that states that the Auto Blocker being on by default forces users to follow an extensive 21-step process just to get the Epic Games Store to work on their Android device. The Epic Games lawsuit requires both Google and Samsung to make the process easier for users and remove these anti-competitive practices. Epic wants the Auto Blocker feature to be turned off by default in Samsung devices, which will make installing a third-party store much easier.
If you’re not aware, the Samsung Auto Blocker feature is a security system that limits the installation of apps from unauthorized sources to stop malicious apps from being installed. When it was originally added to Samsung phones back in 2023, it was an opt-in feature that users could turn on if they wanted. But in 2024, it is turned on by default, and since most don’t even know about the feature in the first place, it makes it impossible for them to install titles from the Epic Games store without fixing it first.
Epic Games recently succeeded after suing Apple for taking a massive cut for putting Fortnite on the Apple App Store, making it impossible to install third-party stores on iOS. This resulted in third-party stores being allowable on iPhones but only in the European Union.
