Epic Games launches initiative to introduce third-party games to its mobile store.

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Epic Games, the creator of the globally popular game “Fortnite,” announced on Thursday plans to significantly expand its mobile game store with the addition of 19 third-party games on Android devices worldwide and 16 games on Apple’s iOS in the European Union.

As reported by Business Standard, the North Carolina-based gaming giant launched its mobile game marketplace in 2024, aiming to bypass the high fees typically charged by conventional app stores like Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store for in-app purchases. The company has long argued that the lack of viable alternatives for downloading gaming applications has stifled competition in the market.

Free Games Program to Boost Store Experience

To attract users, Epic Games will roll out a free-games program on its mobile store, starting with popular titles such as “Bloons TD 6” and “Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee.” Developers who participate in this program in Europe will benefit from Epic temporarily covering Apple’s 0.50-euro ($0.5210) core technology fee on apps that exceed one million installs.

“We are opening up the Epic Games Store to mobile games from third parties, starting with a small catalog and expanding over time to a very big catalog,” said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. “Our aim here isn’t just to launch a bunch of different stores and different places, but to build a single cross-platform store.”

Epic’s Ambitious Goals Face Challenges in the Mobile Market

Despite these bold initiatives, Epic’s mobile store has yet to hit its ambitious targets. By the end of 2024, it had reached 29 million users, falling short of its goal of 100 million.

The expansion comes after years of contention between Epic and app store giants Apple and Google over their policies, which include charging commissions of up to 30% on app store payments. In the European Union, Epic’s marketplace app for iOS was approved in 2023 following prolonged disputes. The approval also paved the way for the return of “Fortnite” to iPhones in the EU and Android devices globally after a nearly four-year ban.

Epic Games continues to innovate with its widely used Unreal Engine, a computer graphics software leveraged by developers to create high-quality games. While the company’s expansion into mobile gaming has yet to match its expectations, its latest moves signal an aggressive push to disrupt the app store duopoly and carve out a larger slice of the mobile gaming market.

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