Epic Games drops lawsuit against Samsung
Epic Games has settled its case against Samsung over the South Korean tech company’s attempts to block third-party app stores on its Galaxy devices.
“We’re dismissing our court case against Samsung following the parties’ discussions. We are grateful that Samsung will address Epic’s concerns,” Tim Sweeney, Founder and CEO of Epic Games, said in a post on X.
According to court documents, Epic Games dismissed the lawsuit against Samsung because both parties reached an agreement. Unfortunately, the filing doesn’t contain any details about the settlement.
In September 2024, Epic Games sued Samsung after the gaming company previously won a lawsuit surrounding the Google Play Store. The gaming company accused Samsung of thwarting third-party app shops on the company’s Android phones, including the Epic Games Store.
The case revolved around Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature. It stops users from downloading and installing apps outside the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store. The feature is enabled by default, although it can be turned off during installation.
Since August 2024, Epic Games has been offering its own mobile app store: the Epic Games Store. Because of Samsung's Auto Blocker, Epic Games said it requires “an exceptionally onerous 21 step process” to install apps from third-party app stores or the web.
Epic Games called it a conspiracy with Google to hinder competition, but Samsung says it’s a security measure to halt rogue apps.
“We are filing a court case against Google and Samsung over coordinated efforts to block competition in app distribution on Samsung devices with Samsung’s default-on Auto Blocker feature. Auto Blocker is the latest in a long series of dealings in which Google and Samsung have agreed not to compete to protect Google’s monopoly power. Auto Blocker cements the Google Play Store as the only viable way to get apps on Samsung devices, blocking every other store from competing on a level playing field,” Epic Games said at the time when it filed its lawsuit.
