Epic Games on Thursday launched plans to integrate third-party games into its own alternative mobile store, the Epic Games Store, launching in 2024. The American studio behind the “Fortnite” phenomenon said that 19 games from third-party developers would be added to the Android platform, globally. Additionally, sixteen games will be included in Apple’s iOS version in the European Union.
The studio also plans to launch a program offering free games every month on its mobile store, with titles such as “Bloon TD 6” and “Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee” to usher in the initiative. As part of the expansion of its app store, Epic Games agrees to cover, for one year, the fees imposed by Apple for the distribution of apps outside its App Store. In fact, the Cupertino company applies a tax, called Core Technology Fee, of 0.50 euros (0.47 francs) per application download, after it has exceeded one million installations.
This approach by Epic Games aims to encourage developers to be unfaithful to Apple by favoring its alternative platform. It is also part of a broader strategy aimed at creating a single, multi-platform store: “We are opening the Epic Games Store to third-party mobile games, starting with a small catalog and expanding it over time to a very large catalog,” said Tim Sweeney, head of Epic Games, in comments reported by Reuters. “Our goal is not to launch several different stores, but to create a single, multi-platform store,” he added.
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