Epic Games accuses Google, Samsung of blocking app rivals, Reuters reports

Epic Games has accused Google (GOOGL) and Samsung (SSNLF) of conspiring to protect Google’s Play store from competition, Reuters’ Mike Scarcella and Supantha Mukherjee report. Epic plans to file a lawsuit in U.S. federal court in California alleging that a Samsung mobile security feature called Auto Blocker was intended to deter users from downloading apps from sources other than the Play store or Samsung’s Galaxy store, according to the report. “It’s about unfair competition by misleading users into thinking competitors’ products are inferior to the company’s products themselves,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told reporters, adding that “Google is pretending to keep the user safe saying you’re not allowed to install apps from unknown sources. Well, Google knows what Fortnite is as they have distributed it in the past.” Investors in Epic Games include Tencent (TCEHY), KKR (KKR), Disney (DIS), and Sony (SONY).