Epic Games plans to add about 20 third-party games to its mobile app store on Android worldwide and iOS in the European Union, and launch a free-to-play games program on mobile devices, starting with Bloons TD 6 and Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee. The company also promised iOS developers who participate in the program will cover some fees to overcome what Epic calls the “barrier to moving outside of the App Store.”
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According to Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, the company’s goal is to create a “single cross -platform store in which users could purchase games or digital goods on one device and use them, if necessary, on the other.” As part of the EPIC program will offer new free games in the store monthly, and then weekly, writes The Verge. So far, the launch of third-party games in the store is delayed due to technical problems, but Epic said that “working on error correction” and notify users as soon as the games are available.
To attract developers, Epic promised to cover the so -called Core Technology Fee (CTF) – a commission of € 0.50 for each installation of the application through third -party stores on iOS if it gained more than 1 million downloads per year. True, the company emphasizes that CTF compensation is a temporary measure while the European Commission is investigating the alleged violations of Apple Law on Digital Markets (DMA). EPIC believes that it is impossible to pay for these fees for a long time either for their company or other third -party stores.
Meanwhile, the company continues to criticize Apple’s policies. In an earlier blog post, Epic called the CTF “competitively destructive” because fees are charged on every installation of developer games, even if they are downloaded through the App Store rather than a third-party store.
Recall that the struggle of EPIC with large developers of mobile OS, such as Apple and Google, has been going on for several years. In the United States, the company partially lost the lawsuit against Apple, but in Europe, thanks to DMA, it was able to circumvent the restrictions on the iOS ecosystem. Google, in turn, recalls that the developers on Android could always spread applications through third -party stores or directly from sites.
It is worth saying that Epic itself admits that it is still behind the planned indicators. Thus, in 2024, only 29 million users installed its mobile store instead of the expected 100 million. The head of the company believes that growth is hampered by pop-up “scare screens” on devices warning users about installing applications from third-party sources. Despite the challenges, he is confident: “Freedom of choice in app stores will become a reality if DMA is strictly enforced.”