Epic Games is taking what it describes as a “quantum leap” to bring its games to players on mobile platforms. The new path forward includes taking advantage of new regulatory realities to launch its own store, bringing its games to stores with favorable terms, and leaving platforms that introduce new restrictions.
The company will be launching its own mobile store for iOS in the European Union, thanks to the Digital Markets Act. Meanwhile, its mobile store will see a global release on Android. The company says that it’s offering developers “great terms” as it will only charge a 12% fee on the payments its processes and zero fees for third-party payments.
Moreover, Epic is committed to bringing its stable of games to stores that provide developers with what it considers a “great deal,” with plans to bring Fortnite to AltStore on iOS in the EU. There isn’t any real information provided as what criteria is being set to meet this threshold, though. What is provided is a warning to stores that act as “rent collectors,” which will lose access to Epic’s products even if offering the company more favorable terms.
Unfortunately, as part of this new mobile push, Epic is removing its games from the Samsung Galaxy Store. This move comes after Samsung began to enable its Auto Blocker feature by default, which prevents the side-loading of apps or third-party stores on its devices.
The company has long been in legal battles with both Apple and Google over how these companies restrict or outright block the sideloading of apps and third-party stores on iOS and Android. The amount of money taken in fees has also been a big sticking point for Epic Games. This new strategy addresses both of these problems.
Time will tell if this new path ends up being worthwhile for Epic. Hopefully, in the end, it means a better environment for all developers.