Epic Games, the creator of the popular video game Fortnite, has filed a lawsuit against Google, owned by Alphabet, and South Korean electronics giant Samsung. The lawsuit alleges that the two companies conspired to protect Google’s Play Store from competition, according to a report by Reuters.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in a U.S. federal court in California. It accuses Samsung of implementing a security feature called “Auto Blocker” on its smartphones, which is designed to prevent users from downloading apps from sources other than the Play Store or Samsung’s Galaxy Store. This marks Epic’s second antitrust lawsuit against Google.
Epic claims that Samsung and Google are violating U.S. antitrust laws by limiting users’ app choices and stifling competition, which could have helped lower app prices.
In response, Google issued a statement calling the lawsuit baseless, stating that Android device manufacturers are allowed to take measures to ensure the safety of their users. Samsung has also announced plans to vigorously defend against Epic Games’ unfounded allegations.
