Epic Games has filed a new lawsuit against Google, naming Samsung as a defendant, over Samsung's Auto Blocker feature, which restricts users from installing the Epic Games Store on select devices. The lawsuit claims that this feature limits third-party app installation unless deactivated by users. Epic's CEO speculates potential collusion between Google and Samsung, though without concrete evidence. This follows Epic's previous legal victories against both Google and Apple regarding app store distribution. The responses from Google and Samsung regarding these claims are yet to be revealed.
Epic Games v. Google is a lawsuit brought by Epic Games against Google in August 2020 in the Northern District of California. Filed concurrently with Epic Games v. Apple, Epic had challenged Google's monopolistic practices on its Google Play Store on Android devices. A jury trial was held in November and December 2023, after which the jury found for Epic on all counts, ruling that Google violated anti-trust laws in maintaining the Play Store as the dominant storefront with Android, including making deals to ensure apps would be solely published through the Play Store and requiring the Play Store be installed on third-party devices.
Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc. was a lawsuit brought by Epic Games against Apple in August 2020 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, related to Apple's practices in the iOS App Store. Epic Games specifically had challenged Apple's restrictions on apps from having other in-app purchasing methods outside of the one offered by the App Store. Epic Games' founder Tim Sweeney had previously challenged the 30% revenue cut that Apple takes on each purchase made in the App Store, and with their game Fortnite, wanted to either bypass Apple or have Apple take less of a cut. Epic implemented changes in Fortnite intentionally on August 13, 2020, to bypass the App Store payment system, prompting Apple to block the game from the App Store and leading to Epic filing its lawsuit. Apple filed a countersuit, asserting Epic purposely breached its terms of contract with Apple to goad it into action, and defended itself from Epic's suit.The trial ran from May 3 to May 24, 2021. In a September 2021 ruling in the first part of the case, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers decided in favor of Apple on nine of ten counts, but found against Apple on its anti-steering policies under the California Unfair Competition Law. Rogers prohibited Apple from stopping developers from informing users of other payment systems within apps. Epic appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court in July of 2023. Apple also filed an appeal of the ruling. Justice Kagan declined to grant Epic's emergency request for a stay of the ruling in August of 2023. In January of 2024, the Supreme Court denied the full appeals of both Apple and Epic in the case, leaving the case primarily a victory for Apple but still requiring them to allow developers to include notices of alternate payment systems in apps.Epic also filed another lawsuit, Epic Games v. Google, the same day, which challenges Google's similar practices on the Google Play app store for Android, after Google pulled Fortnite following the update for similar reasons as Apple. However, that case centered more on the practices and deals that Google, as a dominant tech giant, wielded over partners to assure use of the Play Store. In December 2023, a jury ruled against Google in that it had unlawfully maintained its monopoly on the Android environment.
Epic Games faces obstacles in launching its Epic Games Store in the EU as Apple rejects its submission twice due to similarities with the App Store layout and labeling, despite Epic's compliance with standard naming conventions. Epic deems Apple's rejection arbitrary and obstructive, citing a violation of the DMA rules. Apple claims Epic agreed to avoid confusion with the App Store's design, but Epic argues it follows guidelines except for the download button. The situation highlights Apple's strictness regarding third-party app stores on iOS and could deter other developers from exploring alternative distribution channels.
The Epic Games Store app for EU iPhones has passed Apple's notarization process, allowing the alternative app store to potentially sell apps directly to iOS users outside of the App Store. Apple confirmed the approval but requested changes to the buttons in a future submission. This development is part of the ongoing disputes between Apple and Epic that involve button design and revenue sharing. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has vowed to fight Apple's requests. Fortnite, removed from the iOS App Store previously, is expected to return to iPhones in the European Union soon.
Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, Maryland. Following its first commercial video game release, ZZT (1991), the company became Epic MegaGames, Inc. in early 1992 and brought on Mark Rein, who has been its vice president since. After moving the headquarters to Cary in 1999, the studio changed its name to Epic Games.Epic Games developed Unreal Engine, a commercially available game engine which also powers its internally developed video games like Fortnite and the Unreal, Gears of War, and Infinity Blade series. In 2014, Unreal Engine was named the "most successful videogame engine" by Guinness World Records.Epic Games owns the game developers Psyonix, Mediatonic, and Harmonix, and operates studios in multiple locations around the world. While Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder, Tencent acquired a 48.4% outstanding stake, equating to 40% of total Epic, in the company in 2012, as part of an agreement aimed at moving Epic towards a games as a service model. Following the release of the popular Fortnite Battle Royale in 2017, the company gained additional investments that enabled it to expand its Unreal Engine offerings, establish esports events around Fortnite, and launch the Epic Games Store. As of April 2022, the company has a US$32 billion equity valuation.On August 13, 2020, Epic released a version of Fortnite that included a permanent discount on V-bucks across all platforms (except iOS and Android devices) if they purchased directly through Epic, bypassing Apple and Google's storefronts. Both Apple and Google immediately delisted the game for violating the storefronts' terms of service by including their own storefront, which led Epic to file lawsuits against both companies the same day, accusing them of antitrust behavior in how they operate their app stores. While Apple was ultimately victorious in a bench trial in September 2021 and upheld through appeals, Google's actions were found to be monopolistic by a jury trial in December 2023.
Epic Games has announced that the Epic Games Store is now available for installation on iPadOS for users in EU countries, following the compliance of Apple with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). This allows users to download games such as Fortnite and Fall Guys from the store. The availability comes after the release of iPadOS 18, which permits alternative app stores. The launch aligns with earlier implementations on iPhone, where third-party app stores have been accessible for some time.
The Epic Games Store is a video game digital distribution service and storefront operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as a software client, for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and online storefront. The service provides friends list management, game matchmaking, and other features. Epic Games has further plans to expand the feature set of the storefront but it does not plan to add as many features as other digital distribution platforms, such as discussion boards or user reviews, instead using existing social media platforms to support these.Epic began offering digital distribution for game publishers after the success of Fortnite, released in 2017, which Epic distributed using their own software channels to players on Windows and macOS systems. Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, stated in August 2017 that the revenue cut of Steam, the dominant game storefront from Valve, was unreasonably high at 30%, and suggested that they could run a profitable store with as little as an 8% cut. By launch, Epic Games had settled on a 12% revenue cut for titles published through the store, as well as dropping the licensing fees for games built on their Unreal Engine, normally 5% of the revenue.Epic Games enticed developers and publishers to the service by offering them time-exclusivity agreements to publish on the storefront, in exchange for guaranteed minimum revenue. Epic also offered users one or two free games each week for the first five years of its operation to help draw users. Criticism from users has been drawn to Epic Games and those developers and publishers opting for exclusivity deals, asserting that these are segmenting the market.
Epic Games has announced its intention to launch Fortnite on the third-party iOS app store, AltStore, available exclusively in the European Union (EU). This move follows EU regulatory changes allowing for sideloading and third-party app stores. Epic also plans to remove Fortnite from the Samsung Galaxy Store due to its sideloading restrictions and ongoing legal disputes with Apple and Google regarding app store practices. The timeline for Fortnite's launch on AltStore remains unspecified.
Google's Team Pixel program came under scrutiny after revealing in a recent post on Threads that participants must exclusively feature Google devices over competitors' products. Following backlash, Google stated that the language in the signup form was inadvertently misleading and has since removed it. The aim of Team Pixel is to promote the Pixel devices among content creators, not tech reviewers. Meanwhile, Epic Games has made its store available on mobile devices, allowing access to titles like Fortnite and Fall Guys, and Microsoft's Xbox will have a significant presence at Gamescom 2023.
Comment Count Spotify and Epic Games among the Apple critics who are not happy with the iPhone makers newly revised compliance plan for the European Unions Digital Markets Act (DMA). Shortly after Apple announced the updated version on Tuesday, including loosened restrictions along with the addition of two more fees, Spotify shared a statement with TechCrunch calling the plan unacceptable and claiming Apple was once again disregarding the fundamental requirements of the DMA. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, meanwhile, called the revisions another case of malicious compliance involving junk fees. In the European Union where the new DMA law opens up app store competition, Apple continues its malicious compliance by imposing an illegal new 15% junk fee on users migrating to competing stores and monitor commerce on these competing stores. https://t.
By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Samsung, Xiaomi and other smartphone companies colluded with Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart to exclusively launch products on the e-commerce firms' Indian websites in breach of antitrust laws, according to regulatory reports seen by Reuters. Antitrust investigations conducted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) have found that Amazon and Flipkart violated local competition laws by giving preference to select sellers, prioritising certain listings, and steeply discounting products, hurting other companies, Reuters reported this week. The CCI's 1,027-page report on Amazon also said the Indian units of five companies - Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola, Realme and OnePlus - were "involved in the practice of exclusive" phone launches in "collusion" with Amazon and its affiliates, breaking competition law. In Flipkart's case, a 1,696-page CCI report said the Indian units of Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola, Vivo, Lenovo and Realme conducted similar practices. The inclusion of smartphone makers like Samsung and Xiaomi in the case could increase their legal and compliance headaches.
AltStore PAL, an alternative app store, is now available for free to EU users after receiving funding from Epic Games through its MegaGrant program. This app allows self-publishing and aims to work around Apple’s App Store restrictions. Initially requiring a subscription to cover fees, the app is now free due to Epic’s support, allowing developers to distribute apps without barriers. It launched following the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and includes apps like Delta and Clip. MegaGrants, totaling $100 million, support various creators in the gaming and tech space.
This week, Google introduced the Pixel 9 lineup including the Pixel 9 Fold Pro and AI photo-editing tools, alongside the Pixel Buds Pro 2 featuring Gemini AI. Additionally, Epic Games launched a rival iOS app store in the EU, reviving Fortnite after years of legal disputes. X (formerly Twitter) released Grok-2 with enhanced imaging capabilities, while Waymo received approval to test autonomous robotaxis on freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Fortnite has made its return to iOS in the EU, available via the new Epic Games Store and AltStore PAL, after being removed by Apple four years ago due to legal disputes. This move follows the EU's Digital Markets Act, which compels Apple to accommodate alternative app stores. Epic Games, led by CEO Tim Sweeney, anticipates no issues with worldwide updates for Fortnite and intends to expand its games to other stores. The European iOS launch coincides with a new Marvel-themed season.
Epic Systems Corporation (commonly known as Epic) is an American privately held healthcare software company. According to the company, hospitals that use its software held medical records of 78% of patients in the United States and over 3% of patients worldwide in 2022.
Apple has revised its App Store policy in the EU, allowing developers to communicate with customers outside the platform after being charged for breaching the Digital Markets Act. Developers can now include links leading to purchases outside apps. However, new fees include a 5% acquisition fee for new users and a 10% store services fee on sales made within one year of app installation. The changes have received criticism, particularly from Spotify and Epic Games, who argue the new fees are economically burdensome for developers.
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store or Play Store and formerly Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating system and its derivatives, as well as ChromeOS, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android software development kit (SDK) and published through Google. Google Play has also served as a digital media store, offering games, music, books, movies, and television programs. Content that has been purchased on Google Play Movies & TV and Google Play Books can be accessed on a web browser and through the Android and iOS apps.Applications are available through Google Play either for free or at a cost. They can be downloaded directly on an Android device through the proprietary Google Play Store mobile app or by deploying the application to a device from the Google Play website. Applications utilizing the hardware capabilities of a device can be targeted at users of devices with specific hardware components, such as a motion sensor (for motion-dependent games) or a front-facing camera (for online video calling). The Google Play Store had over 82 billion app downloads in 2016 and over 3.5 million apps published in 2017, while after a purge of apps, it is back to over 3 million. It has been the subject of multiple issues concerning security, in which malicious software has been approved and uploaded to the store and downloaded by users, with varying degrees of severity.Google Play was launched on March 6, 2012, bringing together Android Market, Google Music, Google Movies, and the Google eBookstore under one brand, marking a shift in Google's digital distribution strategy. Following their rebranding, Google has expanded the geographical support for each of the services. Since 2018, Google has gradually sunsetted the Play brand: Google Play Newsstand was discontinued in favor of Google News, Google Play Music was discontinued in favor of YouTube Music and Play Movies & TV was rebranded as Google TV.
Google is currently defending itself in a federal antitrust trial that questions its dominance in online advertising technology. A senior executive testified that Google faces stiff competition from firms like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta. The US Justice Department argues Google monopolizes the $677 billion display advertising market, contending it manipulates auction processes to disadvantage competitors. The trial's presiding judge expressed skepticism over the relevance of some defense testimonies. The case follows years of scrutiny, with Google facing allegations in various jurisdictions regarding its business practices.
Epic Games is an American video game and software developer based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, Maryland. After releasing one game under that name, ZZT (1991), Sweeney renamed the company to Epic MegaGames in early 1992 "to make it look like we were a big company" even though it had no other employees or offices. Over the next few years, the company continued to make PC games, largely self-published, including the side-scrollers Jill of the Jungle (1992) and Jazz Jackrabbit (1994). They additionally published titles by other developers such as Epic Pinball (1993) by Digital Extremes and Tyrian (1995) by Eclipse Software. Epic also slowly expanded in size, reaching 8 employees by 1994.Beginning with the 1996 game Fire Fight, Epic ceased its publishing and self-publishing operations, and after the release and success of Unreal (1998) renamed itself in 1999 to Epic Games and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina; it and a temporary office in Canada during Unreal's development were the first time the company had a central office for their employees. After the name change, the company focused almost solely on the Unreal series of shooters for the next few years, and expanded from PC games to console games. In 2006 the company launched its Gears of War series of games, and in 2010 the company moved into mobile games with the Infinity Blade series after purchasing Chair Entertainment. Epic returned to retail publishing in 2015 for its own titles, and has solely self-published since. In addition to games, Epic develops and licenses the Unreal Engine, which is also used as the game engine for many of its own games, and runs the Epic Games Store, a digital video game storefront for Microsoft Windows and macOS.Sweeney described the history of the company in 2016 as four eras: the shareware era from founding through 1997 as the company grew to 15 employees; the Unreal era from 1998 to 2005 as the company focused on developing that franchise through external publishers and grew to 25 employees; the Gears of War era from 2006 to 2011 as the company shifted focus to console games and grew to around 200 employees; and the current era where the company moved back to PC games and self-publishing, spinning off or closing some of its subsidiary developers such as People Can Fly and Big Huge Games. This latter era has instead become dominated by the multi-platform Fortnite Battle Royale and related games, which is one of the most-played video game franchises of all time with over 350 million registered players. Epic Games has developed around 40 games since 1991 and published over 20 more, and has multiple games under development.
Epic! is an American kids subscription-based reading and learning platform. It offers access to books and videos for children ages 12 and under. The service can be used on desktop and mobile devices.Epic! was founded in 2013 by Suren Markosian and Kevin Donahue and launched in 2014. Indian educational technology company Byju's acquired Epic! in July 2021 in a cash and stock deal worth $500 million.On January 25, 2024, lenders began bankruptcy proceedings against Epic's parent company Byju's in an effort to repay its loans. On February 1, 2024, Byju's U.S. division filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware. Byju's would raise around $200 million in an effort to clear "immediate liabilities" and for other operational costs.
Google has successfully challenged a €1.49 billion fine imposed by the EU for antitrust violations related to its online search advertising practices from 2006 to 2016. The EU's second-highest court found that the European Commission made errors in its assessment, leading to the annulment of the fine. This ruling follows ongoing scrutiny from regulators in Europe and the UK regarding Google's ad tech practices, as well as antitrust litigation from the US government which claims Alphabet illegally monopolizes the market.
BENGALURU (Reuters) - The Indian operations of South Korean giant Samsung Electronics were disrupted for a second day on Tuesday after hundreds of workers at its consumer electronics plant in southern India boycotted work to demand higher wages. Here are facts about Samsung's India operations and its strike-hit factory: INDIA OPERATIONS * Samsung entered India in 1995 and it has more than 200,000 retail outlets. * Its last reported India net profit was $410 million, on annual revenue of almost $12 billion. * Smartphones are Samsung's biggest revenue generator in India, where it has more than a quarter of the market for the devices by value, Counterpoint Research estimates. * It makes most of these in India, for a share of 18.
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