The conflict between Epic Games on one side, and Apple and Google on the other, began with Fortnite and its V-Bucks. The three-way legal struggle emerged when Epic wanted to sell its in-game currency through its own channels, avoiding the hefty commissions that both mobile marketplaces enforce. The result was the immediate removal of Fortnite from both markets, which prompted a lawsuit by Epic Games. After several years and the willingness of Tim Sweeny, the CEO of Epic, to spend (and lose) over one billion USD, his company finally won the battle.
Epic is now present on both Android and iOS devices, but utilizes its own launcher and even mobile storefront. The Epic Mobile Game Store is a growing force in the mobile ecosystem, and Sweeny is not planning on stopping. The game store will increase the number of games it offers and the methods it provides content to both gamers and publishers. This aligns with the overall feeling that the UGC mobile space is on the brink of drastically expanding among gamers. It seems that Epic Games is ready to be at the cutting edge of this process, no matter the cost.
The expansion of the Epic mobile store will be gradual and layered. The first layer will include the launch of third-party games on the platform. Presently, there are only three games available on it, all of which are owned by Epic – Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe, and Fall Guys Mobile.
The company is looking to bring in over 50 new titles, all produced by external studios. Steve Allison, Epic Games Store manager, said that they are looking at the end of the year and the holiday season as their main target. The first game scheduled to join the store is Ark: Ultimate Mobile Edition by Studio Wildcard. It should be followed by at least ten other games before the end of 2024, while Allison is hoping that the number could go up to 50. Even two or three dozen games will immediately give the mobile store a massive appeal.
Epic Games is also planning to enrich its mobile store with some tried-and-tested methods from its PC storefront, like regular giveaways, as well as free games for all users. That program alone allowed Epic Games Store to take on Steam a few years back and now, the Epic mobile team is expecting good results here as well, especially for premium mobile titles.
This move might also be very useful for Epic’s UGC mobile efforts, being that premium mobile gaming – games that are sold for a price and feature no ads, microtransactions, or other means of monetization – is still not very lucrative. That’s especially true when they are compared to free-to-play titles.
Epic explained that the final element of their mobile store upgrade is the self-publishing tools. They should arrive at the platform during the first half of 2025, ideally as close to January as possible. These will be supplemented by social features as well as party functionalities, like cross-platform play and in-game chats.
However, it is still unclear what exactly will self-publishing offer to the developers. For many creators in the UGC realm, this is a clear signal to think both social and mobile for their upcoming projects. Also, Epic is going to provide great setups for the early adopters of their self-publishing platform. Not long ago, Tim Sweeny shared that Epic Games is now financially stable and thus ready to distribute its value to content creators. There is no reason that mobile will not be a part of that. In fact, chances are that it will spearhead the UGC initiatives in 2025. Because of that, many Fortnite Creative developers are now busy planning how to best use these opportunities
