Epic Games Settles App Store Antitrust Claims Against Samsung
Epic Games Inc. settled its antitrust case against Samsung Electronics Co. that alleged the company was conspiring with Alphabet Inc.’s Google to block rival app marketplaces through default settings on mobile devices sold by the electronics giant.
In a brief court filing Monday, the maker of the blockbuster shooter game Fortnite dismissed the claims against Samsung. Google remains a defendant.
“We are grateful that Samsung will address Epic’s concerns,” Epic Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney said in a post on X. He didn’t elaborate and an Epic spokesperson declined to offer further comment, while a Samsung spokesperson referred to Sweeney’s post. Representatives of Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
When Epic first filed the lawsuit, a Google spokesperson called it “meritless” and said Android device makers are “free to take their own steps to keep their users safe and secure.”
Epic won a 2023 jury trial in a separate antitrust case against Google over claims the company monopolized app distribution on Android devices. A federal judge last year ordered the Alphabet unit to lift restrictions that prevent developers from setting up rival marketplaces and billing systems that compete with its Google Play Store. A ruling in Google’s appeal is pending.
In the Samsung case, which was filed in September in San Francisco federal court, Epic accused Google of seeking to preserve its market dominance with the help of the world’s largest maker of Android smartphones.
Last July, Samsung said all its phones will have a default setting to a program intended to prevent malicious software, but also will block downloads of Android apps that compete with the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store, including those launched last year by Epic, Microsoft Corp. and others, according to the suit. Epic sought a halt to the alleged anticompetitive conduct and unspecified damages.
In August, Epic started its own mobile app store to distribute its games, including Fortnite, but has faced challenges as users gravitate toward phones’ default app stores.
Top photo: The Apple App Store app arranged on a smartphone in New York, on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg.