In its new case Epic claims that a month before the Epic Games Store launch in August, Samsung decided to enable Auto Blocker by default, making it more difficult for buyers of new phones to install competing app stores. Epic Games has filed a second antitrust lawsuit against Google, this time including smartphone maker Samsung, which it accused of colluding with Google to make it difficult for users to install the wildly popular game Fortnite on newer devices. Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, which is enabled by default on newer Samsung phones, stops users from installing apps unless they come from “authorised sources” such as the Samsung or Google app stores. The company claims it now requires “an exceptionally onerous 21-step process” to download a third-party app store onto a Samsung device, and that half of would-be Fortnite users give up before completing the process. Epic said it has been trying to get Samsung to introduce a whitelisting process for apps to bypass Auto Blocker, but was unable to come to an agreement with the company. Samsung said Auto Blocker is enabled by default on new devices, but that this is displayed in the initial setup wizard, during which users can turn it off. It sued both companies for monopolistic practices, and a victory in the Google case last December allowed Epic to introduce its own Android app store worldwide as of August of this year. Fortnite is distributed on Android through Epic’s own app store, and the company said its legal action is designed to force companies to allow fair competition from other third-party app stores. “Contrary to Epic Game’s assertions, Samsung actively fosters market competition, enhances consumer choice, and conducts its operations fairly,” Samsung said in a statement. Users reported that when Auto Blocker prevents an app store from loading, it no longer explains how to turn the feature off.
This Cyber News was published on www.silicon.co.uk. Publication date: Tue, 01 Oct 2024 08:43:05 +0000