Epic Games is taking some big steps to expand its mobile game store, focusing on iOS devices in Europe, thanks to regulatory changes under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The plan includes the launch of a free games program, starting with Bloons TD 6 and Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee. Epic plans to cover certain developer fees temporarily to encourage adoption, targeting Apple’s Core Technology Fee (CTF), which the company says blocks competition.
“Our aim here isn’t just to launch a bunch of different stores in different places, but to build a single, cross-platform store in which, within the era of multi-platform games, if you buy a game or digital items in one place, you have the ability to own them everywhere,” said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney to reporters, according to The Verge. The store will offer free games every month, and then switch to a weekly schedule.
Apple’s CTF imposes a €0.50 fee on every download of apps that use third-party stores once a developer surpasses 1 million annual downloads. Epic has agreed to cover this fee for developers in its free games program for a year, but Sweeney criticized the fee, calling it “ruinous for competing stores.” Epic also alleges Apple’s practices violate the DMA and is urging the European Commission to investigate further.
On its website, Apple says the fee “reflects the value Apple provides developers through ongoing investments in the tools, technologies, and services that enable them to build and share innovative apps with users.”
As for Google? It told The Verge, “On Android, developers have always been free to offer their apps on multiple app stores, directly from the web, or even through their own store.”
Epic’s actions are part of its long-standing dispute with Apple and Google over app store policies. The company’s previous legal battles in the U.S. have yielded mixed results, but Sweeney sees Europe as a key battleground. “The ridiculous irony is that Epic Games is able to fully compete with the App Store on equal terms only in Europe,” he said. “In the U.S., we’re blocked from it,” referring to Fortnite on iOS.
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