Sept 30 (Reuters) - "Fortnite" video game maker Epic

Games on Monday accused Alphabet's Google and Samsung

, the world's largest Android phone manufacturer, of

conspiring to protect Google's Play store from competition.

Epic said it would file a lawsuit in U.S. federal court in

California alleging that a Samsung smartphone security feature

called Auto Blocker was in truth intended to deter users from

downloading Android apps from sources other than the Play store

or Samsung's Galaxy store, which the Korean company elected to

put on the back burner.

Samsung and Google are violating U.S. antitrust law by

reducing consumer choice and preventing competition that would

make apps less expensive, Epic said.

The game company said Samsung's Auto Blocker was designed to

blunt the impact of a U.S. verdict that Epic won against Google

in December 2023 that is expected to force the company to make

apps easier to obtain from other sources.

Epic said it will also raise its competition concerns with

regulators in the European Union, which has long scrutinized

Google's business practices.

Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney called the lawsuit part of

a "major global fight" to defend competition and its benefits

for consumers.

Samsung introduced Auto Blocker on its smartphones in late

2023 as an opt-in feature to protect users from downloading apps

that may contain malware. Epic said Samsung made Auto Blocker

the default setting in July and intentionally made it difficult

to disable or bypass.

Cary, North Carolina-based Epic Games sued Google in 2020,

claiming it stifled competition through its controls over app

distribution and payments.

In that case, U.S. District Judge James Donato in San

Francisco is weighing what changes the company must make to its

app business after the jury's December finding that it held an

illegal monopoly.