Epic Games Has Filed A Legal Complaint Against Samsung And Google, Claiming Their Auto Blocker Feature Is Anti-Competitive

The promotion of healthy competition and the removal of barriers to prevent it from happening seems to be in full swing as Google has lately been facing immense pressure for its search engine illegal monopoly, and the anti-trust lawsuit is being actively pursued. Now Google and Samsung are under hot waters for their Auto Blocker feature as Epic Games has recently filed a legal complaint against them for their feature to be blocking competition by making third-party app installation arduous.

Epic Games is pursuing legal action against Samsung and Google for posing significant barriers to competition

Samsung incorporated the Auto Blocker feature into its smartphones and other devices in 2023. This feature was rolled out to prevent users from installing apps that were not part of the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store. While it initially came out as an opt-in, in July 2024, it was announced that the option would become the default setting soon. The default setting would automatically stop the installation of apps from other app stores.

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Epic Games Store was launched for mobile last month, and stumbling upon this barrier, it filed a legal complaint against Samsung and Google in California and called the companies on its Auto Blocker feature being applied by default as anti-competitive and and suggested it to be an unfair conduct. The company not only wants a jury trial for the case but also is seeking monetary relief and injunctive relief.

Epic Games, in its legal claim, suggests that the Auto Blocker option makes users go through a 21-step cumbersome process to download any third-party apps like Epic's own store that include multiple warnings and various prompts. Epic further claims that the existing steps for downloading external apps are already complicated, and this extension would only limit the competition more and create a monopoly for