Epic Games withdraws its antitrust lawsuit against Samsung after reaching an agreement

Epic Games, the video game developer behind titles such as Fortnite, has announced the end of its legal dispute with Samsung. Both companies have reached an agreement, thereby closing the antitrust case initiated in September 2024, in which Samsung was accused of working with Google to block competing app stores on its smartphones.

“We are dismissing our lawsuit against Samsung following discussions between the parties. We are grateful that Samsung will address Epic’s concerns,” explained Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, in a statement published on Twitter.

We’re dismissing our court case against Samsung following the parties’ discussions. We are grateful that Samsung will address Epic’s concerns. https://t.co/fgJYU6NMH0

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 7, 2025

What Epic Games’ lawsuit alleged

On September 30, 2024, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Google and Samsung in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. In the document, Samsung was accused of using its default “Auto Blocker” feature to hinder the download of apps from rival application stores.

Samsung presents “Auto Blocker” as a security measure intended to block apps from “unknown sources.” Nevertheless, Epic Games stated in its lawsuit that Samsung and Google used it to block apps originating from any store other than the Play Store or the Galaxy Store, with no formal process allowing other stores to be “authorized.”

“Auto Blocker is the latest in a long series of arrangements in which Google and Samsung have agreed not to compete in order to protect Google’s monopolistic power. Auto Blocker consolidates Google Play Store as the only viable way to obtain applications on Samsung devices, preventing all other stores from competing on equal terms,” Epic Games explained in a statement.

Epic Games identified “Auto Blocker” as a Google ploy resulting from a previous lawsuit

Now that we know the central issue of the Epic Games lawsuit, we must look further back to grasp the full context. In 2020, the video game developer sued Google, accusing it of maintaining an illegal monopoly over the distribution of Android apps through the Play Store.

In 2023, Epic Games prevailed in the case and the court committed to implementing corrective measures to open the market to competition. Following this, the video game company launched its Epic Games Store in August 2024 in an attempt to gain a foothold in the app store market.

However, that same year, Samsung altered the “Auto Blocker” setting so that it became pre-installed by default on its mobile devices, rather than being an optional feature. Epic interpreted this as an attempt by Samsung and Google to coordinate efforts to thwart effective competition in app distribution, which could nullify the corrective measures expected from the 2023 ruling against Google.

“The intended effect of Auto Blocker is clear: it would nullify the measures the Court imposes on Google and frustrate any attempt to open the Android application distribution market to competition,” the 2024 lawsuit explained.

An agreement that has not been disclosed

Tim Sweeney’s post on X, founder and CEO of Epic Games, is the only information that has been released regarding the agreement reached between the developer and Samsung. At this time, no further details have been provided about what actions Samsung has taken resulting in Epic Games withdrawing its lawsuit.

Among the possibilities could be a return to making “Auto Blocker” an optional feature, or modifying it to allow the installation of apps from stores other than the Play Store or the Galaxy Store. This, in turn, would help restore a market balance that enables open competition.

Additionally, it is noteworthy that Sweeney’s statement was made two days prior to the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event scheduled to begin on July 9. Therefore, we cannot help but wonder if more information will be disclosed during the event.

Photo: GPT-4o