Epic may take Google and Samsung to court
Epic has its own app store, but Google and Samsung are making it extremely difficult to use. Epic is fighting back and has now had its first small success.
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The dispute between Google, Samsung and game developer Epic over a blocked app store continues, at least somewhat: the two tech giants wanted Epic's lawsuit against them to be dismissed –, but a judge has now rejected this request.
Epic, which published the popular shooter "Fortnite" among other things, is accusing Google and Samsung of illegal collusion against alternative app stores. Epic had previously launched an Android version of its own Epic Games Store – mainly to circumvent the fees that Google charges on transactions between users and external app developers in its own app store. Now the game maker is fighting back against a feature called Auto Blocker from Samsung, which is pre-installed on new smartphones and prevents the installation of apps from "untrusted sources", including from the Epic Games Store.
Judge gives the green light
James Donato, a judge at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, has rejected Google and Samsung's hopes of having the case dismissed, reports the financial magazine Bloomberg. Although the dismissal of such a lawsuit is justified in some cases, the present constellation is too complex to dispense with a trial.
Epic accuses Google and Samsung of classifying the Epic Games Store as "untrustworthy" as pure harassment. The game developer even suspects that the blocker does not really check apps for security risks. At least that's what Epic boss Tim Sweeney claims. There is also no way for competing app stores to be approved. Disabling the Auto Blocker is also quite complicated and requires 21 steps, so many users simply leave the protection running, according to Epic.
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Details and date expected shortly
Donato intends to issue a written statement on his decision shortly, he said on Thursday. The first hearing is expected to take place in around a year.
The case is pending in the United States District Court Northern District of California and has the case number 3:24-cv-06843, 4/3/25, EPIC GAMES, INC., v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO. LTD; SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC.; and GOOGLE LLC
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