Epic Games Store Could Be Coming To Android And iOS

Epic Games is one of the biggest names in the gaming market, not just for its published titles but also because of its Unreal game engine that's used in hundreds if not thousands of games. That reputation has definitely given it enough clout in the industry to make its voice heard on certain contentious topics like revenue splitting and app stores. Although it has practically thrown in the towel on the latter to get Fortnite on Google Play Store, it may be moving to strike back even harder by bringing the Epic Games Store itself to mobile.

This move is pretty much Epic's second and bigger jab at Google and its Google Play Store ecosystem. In particular, it doesn't agree with the 30% "store tax" that Google continues to levy on paid apps, though it ironically has no problems paying that tax on the iOS App Store. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney's reason is that Apple deserves that cut for the innovations and security measures it develops for its App Store, something that is equally controversial when it comes to Android.

After snubbing Google Play Store for so long, Epic eventually yielded and agreed to Google's terms to have Fortnite on the Play Store. Apparently, that's just a momentary truce as GameSpot reports that the company wants to brings its own games store to both Android and iOS. Sweeney's stated intention is, of course, to create what he presents as a "really interesting" alternative.

By that he mostly means a different kind of revenue sharing that, to be fair, gives developers a larger sum overall. While Epic itself has few mobile games to call its own, its Unreal Engine continues to rival with Unity 3D both on desktops and mobile.

This mobile Epic Games Store could run afoul of many established security policies. Apple, in particular, forbids any third-party store, be it for games or even for ebooks. While Google-certified Android has a more relaxed policy, apps installed outside of the Google Play Store are often eyed with suspicion as potentially harmful apps.