Epic Games has revealed that its digital storefront is coming to iOS and Android devices in 2024. As the company takes a wider step into the mobile market and avoids harsh regulations imposed by the likes of Apple and Google, it has realised that the best path forward is to release its own mobile storefront. During GDC 2024, Epic Games announced the impending arrival of a mobile-based version of the Epic Games Store, which will likely change the face of mobile gaming.
It’s no big secret that Epic Games has clashed with some of the world’s grandest tech titans in recent years. It has long struggled against Apple and has faced lawsuits concerning the operation of its games on mobile devices. This bold step will make Epic Games a contender to Apple and Google, rather than a customer that must bend to their will.
An Industry First
Image Credit: Epic Games
While on stage at the GDC showcase, Epic Games’ Steve Allison explained that the launch of this application will introduce the ‘first-ever games-focused, multiplatform marketplace’. It’ll boast the usual array of third-party partners, which means that there’ll be a sizeable back catalogue of titles for mobile-based gamers to take advantage of. It’s a better deal all around for gamers, developers, publishers, and of course, Epic Games.
In the last few years, the mobile gaming market has exploded. From manufacturers making more technically advanced devices than ever to cloud gaming seeing a surge in accessibility, there are plenty of reasons why mobile gaming is, by numbers, the most popular gaming market in the business. Billions of mobile gamers enjoy everything from idle titles to AAA games – and even the esports industry has some dramatically popular mobile games at the heart of it.
It was in 2020 that the CEO of Epic, Tim Sweeney, spoke about bringing the Epic Games Store to mobile devices – and this is finally the company coming full circle on that promise. He said:
‘We’d like to bring the Epic Games Store to iOS in the future, and we will bring it to Android. “We think it’s a good way to help the industry move forward and it’s another way where Epic as a game developer had built up this audience around Fortnite and learned how to operate a distribution platform on PC and Android.’
Sure, it’s taken a little longer than some anticipated, but it’s finally on the horizon. Epic Games has pledged to make a mobile version of the Epic Games Store available before 2024 wraps up.
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