Epic secures iOS developer account, Europe mobile store and Fortnite launch this year

Epic Games will begin developing a mobile version of the Epic Games Store for launch on iOS in Europe, the company has said, now it has officially received an Apple Developer Account.

The store's launch will also herald the return of Fortnite to iPhones, years after its previous version was locked down after Epic Games added the abililty to make direct in-game payments, circumventing Apple's standard 33 percent cut.

Epic said today it planned to launch the Epic Games Store on iOS in 2024, operated by Epic Games Sweden.

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The news follows January's confirmation by Apple that it will comply with new EU rules that require it to allow sideloading and alternate marketplaces on its devices. Apple's implementation of these rules, however, leaves developers like Epic who do go down this path paying «new Junk Fees on downloads and new Apple taxes», according to Epic boss Tim Sweeney, who dubbed Apple's fees «hot garbage».

At the time, Sweeney suggested Apple could still block individual developers — such as Epic. Today's news, however, suggests Apple will not do so.

In other news, stats released by Epic today show that the Epic Game Store had 75 million monthly active users in December 2023, who spent $950m (£756m). Of that amount, $310m (£246m) was spent on third-party games — meaning the rest was spent on Epic titles. Some of that amount will presumably be sales of Alan Wake 2, though the majority of it will likely be the evergreen Fortnite.

Last year saw the offer of 86 free games, with $586m in value claimed — an average of $2055 per player.

New features coming to the Epic Games Store in 2024 will include a fresh download manager which lets you schedule downloads and re-order your queue, an improved Offline Mode, support for developer and publisher subscriptions, plus pre-loading for pre-purchases.