Epic Games is dedicated to expanding its new mobile games store, targeting the addition of up to 50 third-party titles by the end of 2024. The company is implementing a low fee structure for developers to attract more games.
During the Unreal Fest keynote on Tuesday, Steve Allison, general manager of the Epic Games Store, shared in a discussion (as reported by mobilegamer.biz) that the free games program currently available on the desktop version will also be introduced for mobile devices before the year’s end.
“We plan to kick things off in the holiday season with our first third-party applications,” Allison stated. “We expect anywhere from 10 to 50 titles to be ready for launch.” However, the company still needs to finalize a payment system for developers, which could delay the rollout.
The publisher of Fortnite, which has been competing with Steam on PC, launched the mobile version of the Epic Games Store on Android worldwide in August, with a limited initial release on iOS in the EU. The launch lineup included Fortnite (as expected), Fall Guys, and Rocket League Sideswipe. Epic plans to make the store available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store while also welcoming developers to join the platform.
Regarding third-party games, Allison announced that Ark: Ultimate Mobile Edition will be among the first games added to the store, expected to launch later this year. The store will charge a reduced royalty fee of 3.5% for games developed using Unreal Engine.
This move aligns with CEO Tim Sweeney’s previous legal actions against Apple and Google, where Epic argued that both companies engaged in anti-competitive practices that resulted in high developer fees. Those actions stemmed from Epic’s attempt to sell V-Bucks through its own platform, leading to its ban from both app stores. The outcomes of those lawsuits, along with a 2022 EU ruling mandating larger companies to allow third-party access, have enabled Epic to return to those platforms.
For now, users can only access the Epic Games Store on mobile by having an Android device and visiting the Epic Games website. iOS users in the EU face a similar process.
