Final September, after efficiently suing Google for working an unlawful app retailer monopoly, Epic Games sued Samsung, too — alleging the phonemaker of illegally conspiring with Google to undermine third-party app shops. An “Auto Blocker” function on Samsung Android telephones, which was turned on by default, routinely stored customers from putting in apps from shops that haven’t been approved by Samsung, similar to Epic’s cell retailer.
Our solely trace is from Epic Video games CEO Tim Sweeney, on X, saying Epic received some type of assurance from Samsung in change for dropping its claims. “We’re dismissing our court docket case in opposition to Samsung following the events’ discussions. We’re grateful that Samsung will deal with Epic’s issues,” he writes.
However Epic isn’t saying how Samsung would possibly deal with its authentic issues. Final September, Sweeney explicitly laid out two ways in which Samsung might do this: both 1) change Auto Blocker so it’s off by default, or 2) create “an sincere whitelisting course of” that routinely lets sincere apps by way of Samsung’s barrier.
Epic wouldn’t verify that Samsung has agreed to both of these issues once we requested as we speak. “Nothing extra to share past the submitting/X put up,” Epic senior comms director Elka Appears tells The Verge.
Samsung didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Given how Samsung’s Unpacked occasion is developing in two days, I’ve to surprise if the opposite shoe will drop throughout Samsung’s presentation. Will Samsung pre-load the Epic Video games Retailer on its telephones, maybe? However that shouldn’t fulfill Sweeney, who’s repeatedly stated he fights these lawsuits on behalf of all builders and never simply his personal retailer.
“If we’d fought Epic v. Apple and Epic v. Google solely on the premise of Epic getting particular privileges, maybe settlement discussions with Apple and Google may need been fruitful,” Sweeney told me final September, once I requested why he didn’t simply ask Samsung to make the Epic Video games Retailer a licensed supply. “[I]f we did that, we’d be promoting out all builders,” he stated.
Whereas Epic has dropped its claims in opposition to Samsung as we speak, it hasn’t technically dropped the lawsuit, which was filed in opposition to each Samsung and Google to begin. The claims in opposition to Google will proceed, no less than for the second: they’re counts 8, 10, and 12 in a model new First Amended Grievance that I’ve embedded under.