Epic Games
Epic Games settles antitrust case against Samsung
Google says companies like Samsung have the right to protect users by limiting where they can get apps.
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Epic Games has ended its legal battle with tech giant Samsung. The lawsuit, filed in September of last year, accused Samsung of working together with Google to prevent users from easily accessing competing app stores on Samsung phones.
Epic Games believed this behavior made it harder for other app developers to fairly reach users and compete with Google’s and Samsung’s app stores.
Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, announced on social media that the lawsuit had been dropped after both companies talked things through.
He said they were thankful that Samsung was taking their concerns seriously. However, Epic didn’t provide more details about what changes Samsung might be making.
At the heart of the lawsuit was a Samsung feature called “Auto Blocker.” According to Epic, this feature prevented users from downloading apps that didn’t come from either the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store.
Epic claimed this was a way to shut out competitors and control where people could get their apps. Samsung and Google had both denied any wrongdoing.
Google said Android phone makers like Samsung have the right to protect users by limiting where they can get apps.
Samsung had also previously said it would fight Epic’s claims, calling them “baseless.”
This settlement follows Epic’s recent efforts to break into the app distribution space themselves.
Nearly a year ago, they launched their own app store for mobile games, hoping to give developers more freedom and better revenue-sharing deals.
This isn’t the first time Epic has taken on big tech. In 2023, they won a separate court case against Google, in which a judge agreed that Google had been unfairly limiting competition in its app store.
As a result, Google was told to allow other app stores on Android phones. However, that ruling is still under appeal, so the final outcome is not yet clear.
What do you think about this lawsuit settlement? Do you think we’ll see any changes because of it? Tell us below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.
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