For several months, the Apple App Store has had competition within the European Union, in fact, Apple has been forced to open up the distribution of applications so that other stores can reach iPhone users and iPad. Among the alternatives available, we find the Epic Games Store, an application store managed by Epic Games and in direct competition with the App Store.
The Epic Games Store wants to increase attractiveness for developers
When Epic Games took the opportunity to launch its own store on iOS and iPadOS, the company thought that a ton of developers would join the adventure and offer their own game. However, the reality is very different. Since August 16 (the date the Epic Games Store was launched in Europe), the quantity of games available for download on iOS has not taken off, the catalog remains stuck at three games: Fortnite, Fall Guys and Rocket League.
Faced with the glaring lack of enthusiasm around its Epic Games Store on iOS, the company has decided to pull out all the stops and make a nice gesture towards publishers who use the Unreal Engine.
Epic Games announced the launch of the program “Launch Everywhere with Epic”this new program allows publishers who develop a game with the Unreal Engine to save money on the royalties they must pay to Epic. Normally, this is 5% for all developers, however, Epic Games will now make a move by increasing it to 3.5%.
Of course, this gesture is not done without compensation, Epic asks developers to simultaneously launch their new game on the Epic Games Store. If the developer respects this commitment, he will be able to instantly benefit from a reduced royalty, otherwise, it will remain at 5%.
In this new approach, Epic Games still adds a temporary exception, the company will not force developers (who wish to avoid “Apple’s basic technology fees”) to launch the game at the same time on the Epic iOS Games Store. However, developers will still be encouraged to launch their game also on iOS, the aim being to offer more games for iPhone and iPad owners!
