Epic lawsuit says Samsung “coordinated” with Google to get around trial verdict

Enlarge / Installing the Epic Games Store on Galaxy phones is impossible with the “Auto Blocker” feature turned on. (credit: Getty Images)

Following its antitrust win against Google last year, Epic is now going after both Samsung and Google for allegedly conspiring to set up what it says is a similarly anti-competitive scheme on its Galaxy smartphones.

Epic’s newly filed federal lawsuit focuses on Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, a setting designed to prevent Galaxy smartphone users from downloading “unauthorized” apps from third-party sources such as the recently launched Android version of the Epic Games Store. Introduced last year as an opt-in feature, the Auto Blocker feature is now activated by default during the initial setup of a Samsung phone following a July system update (the feature can be turned off with a simple toggle during setup or in the phone’s settings afterward).

Epic’s lawsuit takes a particular exception to the fact that Samsung doesn’t provide any way for a company like Epic to qualify as an “authorized source” that has been judged as safe under the Auto Blocker. “While Samsung half-heartedly claims Auto Blocker is a security feature, its operation is to block all competing stores, regardless of how safe and secure they may be—and without any assessment of their safety or security or any path for other stores to achieve ‘authorization,'” the suit argues.