The American video game publisher Epic Games has taken smartphone manufacturer Samsung and Google to court, accusing them of preventing the download of its application.
In the latest version of its operating system, Samsung activates, by default, the “Auto Blocker” functionality, which prevents the installation of an application outside the stores of the South Korean group (Samsung Galaxy Store) and Google (Google Play Store).
This decision constitutes, according to Epic Games, a departure from the spirit of the decision rendered in December 2023 by a Californian jury, which had estimated that Google held a monopoly on the market for the distribution of applications on Android, its system of mobile operation.
The jurors thus ruled in favor of Epic Games, at the origin of the procedure.
The video game publisher has therefore decided to take legal action once again in the American civil courts to obtain a ban on what it considers to be an anti-competitive practice, it said in a press release published on Monday.
Epic Games wants to prevent smartphone manufacturers from requiring application developers to use their download platforms as well as their payment systems, which allows them to charge significant commissions in the process.
The creator of the hit game Fortnite obtained, in 2021, a US federal judge to force Apple to authorize an alternative payment system within its App Store.
But the magistrate also considered that Epic Games had not provided enough evidence to demonstrate that Apple had contravened competition law.
According to the summons document filed in a California federal court against Samsung and Google, the video game publisher is seeking damages to compensate for the loss of revenue linked to the blocking of its application, without giving an amount.
“These illegal anti-competitive practices are harmful to developers and users,” said Epic Games, which launched its own application store to bypass dominant platforms.
In addition to the favorable judgment in December 2023, several laws have been adopted around the world in recent years to limit the control of technology giants over the smartphone ecosystem.
In 2021, South Korea enacted a law forcing Apple and Google to open their operating systems to alternative payment systems.
In Europe, the regulation on digital markets, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into force in March, is forcing the six largest global tech players to open their platforms to competition.
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