Epic Games has accused Samsung of making it too difficult to download the hugely popular video game Fortnite on certain mobile devices.

A legal complaint expected to be filed Monday says people will have to go through “21 steps” before they can play the game on a new Samsung product, including viewing security warning screens and changing settings.

Epic claims this means that 50% of people who try to install the game on these devices will give up before completing the process.

Samsung said it would vigorously dispute the “baseless claims.”

According to Epic, the process takes 12 steps, down from 21 for other Android phones and tablets.

The company blames a Samsung feature called Auto Blocker, which is enabled by default on the manufacturer’s latest products.

The tool aims to block ‘malicious activity’ and prevent app installations from unauthorized sources.

Epic claims Auto Blocker affects Fortnite downloads, saying it violates competition laws.

Samsung has denied the allegations and said users can disable Auto Blocker if they wish.

“Contrary to Epic Game’s claims, Samsung actively promotes competition in the marketplace, expands consumer choice and conducts its business fairly,” the company said.

“The features integrated into our devices are designed in accordance with Samsung’s core principles of security, privacy and user control, and we remain fully committed to protecting users’ personal data.”

Apps on Samsung or Google stores can be downloaded with just a few clicks, as the companies have already approved them.

But Fortnite has to be downloaded from Epic’s own store – which triggers Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature with warnings about it.

Epic claims that both Google and Samsung know that Fortnite is a legitimate app, and therefore no warnings should be flagged.

That’s because it used to be available on Google Play – the official app store for Android phones – and Samsung has even collaborated with it before, hosting Fortnite competitions and creating digital skins for the game’s characters.

The BBC has approached Google for comment.

The Fortnite developer has previously taken Google and Apple to court over disagreements over the way the tech companies operate their app stores.

The game returned to EU-registered iPhones in August after Apple was ordered to open up its app marketplace, but the game is still not playable on iOS in Britain.

Epic boss Tim Sweeney said he was “very sad” that he was taking more legal action.

“The fight against Samsung… is new, and it really sucks,” he said.

“I didn’t think we would end up in this place.”

He claimed that Epic “would have made a lot more money” if it had chosen not to pursue the previous legal action, but said he wanted to create a “truly level playing field” for developers.

The game developer says it wants Samsung to introduce a process by which all legitimate third-party app developers can apply to be whitelisted by Auto Blocker, but has been unable to reach an agreement.

Fortnite was removed from the Apple and Google app stores in 2020 after Epic introduced its own in-app payment system.

And the developer won a lengthy lawsuit against Google in December 2023 over its app store dominance. where a jury ruled that Google had a monopoly.