Launching Epic Games Mobile Store

This summer, Epic Games is making a significant move with the launch of its own digital store on iOS and Android, thanks to new EU regulations. In preparation for this launch, the company has announced its decision to remove Fortnite and other Epic games from what it refers to as “rent collector” competing stores, even if those stores offer special deals for their games.

In the announcement post, Epic reveals that developers selling games on its new mobile store will be subject to a 12 percent fee, similar to its PC digital storefront (with the option of zero percent fee if a developer uses a third-party payment system). The company also plans to pull its games from certain competing stores that it believes act as rent collectors without fair competition. Epic states that it will be “ending distribution partnerships with mobile stores that serve as rent collectors without competing robustly and serving all developers fairly, even if those stores offer special deals for our own games.”

As part of this shift, Epic is withdrawing Fortnite and its other titles from the Samsung Galaxy Store in protest of Samsung’s decision to block side-loading by default on its devices. On the other hand, Epic intends to bring its mobile games to stores that provide fair deals to all developers, such as the indie-focused AltStore.

Epic emphasizes that their actions are driven by a desire to support stores that prioritize fair deals for developers. However, it’s clear that this move will also help funnel most Fortnite traffic on mobile through Epic’s own store, where the company won’t have to share revenue with other platforms.

Ever since Fortnite was removed from Apple’s ecosystem in 2020, Epic has been working to regain access to iOS. Despite legal battles in the US favoring Apple, the EU’s Digital Markets Act has provided Epic Games with an opportunity to reintroduce its games in the EU. The Epic Games Store is scheduled to launch on iOS in the EU and Android globally later this year, while Fortnite and the store are set to return to iOS in the UK in the second half of 2025. However, uncertainties remain regarding the UK’s new Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act.