The maker of Fortnite, Epic Games, is releasing its rival iOS app store in the European Union. The Epic Games Store also launches on Android worldwide. Games available to consumers through the app store include Fortress Heroes, Rocket League Sideswipe, and Fall Guys. The company has told its developers that it will work with them to make more games available through the Epic Games Store in the future. Epic Games is also bringing its games to independent mobile store AltStore PAL, which announced yesterday that it will be free on its app store thanks to funding from Epic Games.
The company said that in the future, Epic Games plans to bring its games to Aptoide's EU iOS store and the ONE store on Android. It's been more than four years since the first time the removal of Fortnite was ordered from Apple's App Store. It makes a comeback after years of suing each other, with regulatory changes having opened Apple to new competitors, including the EU's Digital Markets Act. "The tide is turning and the mobile ecosystem is finally open to competition," said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney in a statement. "We are grateful the European Commission gave us the opportunity to open the Epic Games Store and offer our games to iOS users in the European Union. European iOS users and all Android users now have access to our store and games, just like they always have on open platforms such as PC and Mac. The battle is long from won, but this is concrete advancement for developers and consumers who can start benefiting from competition and choice.".
This week, the company published a video walking users through the myriad steps of installing the Epic Games Store on iOS and Android. Installing the thing is a crappy, multistep process riddled with confusing device settings and scary screens. With the Epic Games Store, it is the first real contender Apple has had to deal with, and the first to seriously disrupt App Store dominance.