Epic Games is suing Google — again — and now Samsung is caught in the crossfire

Earlier this year, Epic Games scored a significant win against Apple, three years after filing lawsuits against both Apple and Google, accusing them of monopolizing their app stores. Now, Epic is back in court, and this time, Samsung is caught in the middle.

According to Reuters, Epic Games has accused Google and Samsung of working together to shield Google’s Play Store from competition.

The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. federal court in California, claims that Samsung’s Auto Blocker, a mobile security feature, was designed to discourage users from downloading apps outside of the Play Store or Samsung’s Galaxy Store— the latter of which Samsung has deprioritized.

Epic alleges that by limiting where users can download apps, Samsung and Google are violating U.S. antitrust laws by stifling competition and limiting consumer choice, which could drive app prices down. The case is backed by China’s Tencent, a major investor in Epic.

“It’s about unfair competition by misleading users into thinking competitors’ products are inferior to the company’s products themselves,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told reporters. “Google is pretending to keep the user safe saying you’re not allowed to install apps from unknown sources. Well, Google knows what Fortnite is as they have distributed it in the past.”

Google declined to comment, while Samsung called Epic’s claims baseless and promised to “vigorously contest” the lawsuit. Samsung defended its security measures, stating that features like Auto Blocker are designed to protect user privacy, and users can disable them anytime if they choose.

Samsung, in a statement reported by Reuters, emphasized that “the features integrated into its devices align with our core principles of security, privacy, and user control, and we remain fully committed to safeguarding users’ personal data.”

Epic argues that Samsung’s Auto Blocker is an attempt to soften the blow of a U.S. court ruling from December 2023, which forced Google to make app downloads easier from sources beyond the Play Store. Epic also plans to bring its concerns to regulators in the European Union, where Google has faced scrutiny over its business practices for years.

This isn’t Epic’s first clash with Google and Apple. Previously, the company took issue with their 30% commission fees on app store payments. After being banned for nearly four years, Fortnite recently became available again on iPhones in the EU and globally on Android devices.

Founded in 1991 by Mark Rein and Tim Sweeney, Epic operates Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections. Epic also develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is also adopted across industries such as film and television, architecture, automotive, manufacturing, and simulation. Through Unreal Engine, Epic Games Store, and Epic Online Services, Epic provides an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content.

In 2017, Epic launched the free-to-play battle-royal videogame “Fortnite.” Since then it has amassed a huge following among young gamers. Epic currently has more than 160 million users on its PC store, according to its website. In 2021, Epic received a $250 million investment from Sony, and it raised $1.25 billion in funding in 2018 from investors including KKR.