Epic Games, booted from Apple’s walled garden four years ago for crimes against App Store policy, has built its own digital store for customers in Europe.
Thanks to Europe’s Digital Markets Act, Apple is obligated to provide access to third-party app stores on its mobile devices. Where once there was one Apple way – apologies to Microsoft’s solipsistic street address – there are now at least five alternative iOS app stores in the EU.
These include: AltStore PAL, Aptoide, Mobivention, and SetApp Mobile.
The latest addition, the Epic Games Store, now offers iOS-using Euro-folk access to entertainment titles like Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe and Fall Guys. Epic is also making its iOS titles available in AltStore PAL and, soon, through Apotide’s iOS store.
What’s more, the Epic Games Store is available to Android users worldwide, though that’s less transgressive than standing up a rival iOS store – the Android ecosystem has accommodated third-party stores for years, not to mention side-loading (which Apple detests). ONE Store on Android is also slated to distribute Epic’s games.
The process for installing the Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU is rather convoluted, requiring numerous steps as demonstrated in this video. Epic attributes this “to Apple and Google introducing intentionally poor-quality install experiences laden by multiple steps, confusing device settings, and scare screens,” and says it’s pursuing the issue in court.
Fortnite has been unavailable on iOS since 2020, when Apple banned the game in response to App Store Guidelines violations and Epic sued Apple in the US.
Though the game maker won only one of its ten claims against Apple – and that one has yet to be resolved after various appeals – Epic’s legal campaign to keep platform gatekeepers out of its revenue stream has been surprisingly successful.
Epic achieved a more substantial victory over Google and its Android app store rules last December. Its competition challenge to Google in Australia concluded in July and now awaits a decision. The web giant’s gatekeeper toll rebellion could also not be ignored by competition cops around the world, several of which have since opened investigations or filed antitrust claims against Apple and Google.
Rocking the platform boat has come at a cost though. Epic is said to have lost about $1 billion in revenue, not to mention gone through layoffs last year that affected 16 percent of the company or about 870 people.
For developers, the Epic Game Store offers better financial terms than Apple’s App Store with its fee of 30 percent (or 15 percent for small developers): a store fee of 12 percent for payments Epic processes, and zero on third-party payments.
But the math looks less compelling when you add on the fees Apple has imposed for this platform heresy – specifically, fees for external payment processing or distribution. These vary depending on whether the developer is using the “Alternative Terms Addendum for Apps in the EU” or the “StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement (EU) Addendum.” They include an Initial acquisition fee (5 percent), a Store services fee (10/20 percent or 7 percent for App Store Small Business Program participants or auto-renewal subscription after one year), and a Core Technology fee (€0.50) for each install after the first million.
Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney nonetheless appears to be pleased with how things are going.
“The tide is turning and the mobile ecosystem is finally opening up to competition,” he said in a statement. “We are grateful to the European Commission for making it possible to launch the Epic Games Store and offer our games to iOS users in the European Union. Now, European iOS users and all Android users can access our store and games, as they’ve always been able to do on open platforms like PC and Mac.
“The fight is far from over, but this is tangible progress for developers and consumers who can begin to benefit from competition and choice.” ®