Epic Games enters new battle with Google and Samsung – Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Video game maker Epic Games started the week with a lawsuit against Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGLEowned Google and Samsung, accusing them of conspiring to block third-party competition on Samsung devices. This is Epic’s second lawsuit against Google.

More specifically, Epic Games accused Samsung and Google of violating antitrust laws in distributing applications on Samsung devices. With Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” feature enabled by default, Epic Games accused the two of only allowing apps to be installed from authorized sources such as the Samsung Galaxy Store or Google Play Store. This feature can be changed in the phone’s settings, but Samsung claims that it is a tool that blocks malicious activity because it prevents the installation of applications from unauthorized sources.

Epic claims Auto Blocker violates the jury’s December verdict.

According to the complaint, Epic Games decided to file the lawsuit to prevent Google from “negating its long-awaited promise of competition in the Android app distribution market.” Last year, Epic won its first antitrust lawsuit against Google as the jury also found that Google protected its Android app store with competitive barriers that harmed both smartphone consumers and software developers. Epic now claims that Samsung designed the “Auto Blocker” feature in cooperation with Google to preemptively undermine the December jury verdict.

Four years after Epic went after mighty Google for running an illegal app store monopoly and won that battle in December, Epic is suing again. As in the previous lawsuit, Epic insists that it is fighting on behalf of all developers, not just its own personal interests. Samsung has made it clear that it will vigorously dispute Epic Games’ baseless claim, while Google spokesman Dan Jackson has described the lawsuit as baseless and Google has denied collusion. Epic Games has no evidence that Google and Samsung cooperated on the auto-blocking feature, which it says has cemented Google’s dominance. The company hopes the document discovery process will uncover evidence of anti-competitive behavior. Like last time, Epic is asking for a jury trial. Additionally, Epic is in another legal battle with Apple Inc AAPL. On Monday, Apple was expected to file about 1.3 million documents related to the latest changes to the App Store. The ongoing dispute stems from Epic Games intentionally violating App Store rules back in 2020, which caused Apple to remove the game from the platform. While this fight continues, Apple has been forced to update its AppStore policies in Europe, now allowing other payment methods. Therefore, no matter what happens, titans like Apple and Google face a changing landscape, and the outcomes of these disputes and regulatory actions threaten to significantly erode their dominance, perhaps setting new precedents in their ecosystems.

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