Epic Games has announced a number of modern updates to Fortnite’s mobile distribution, including its planned removal from the Samsung Galaxy Store and its addition to a number of other mobile stores in the near future.
In a blog post today, Epic revealed that it will be moving its mobile games, including Fortnite, to “other mobile stores that offer great deals to all developers” and that it will “terminate distribution relationships with mobile stores that act as rent collectors that do not compete with each other and do not serve all developers fairly, even if those stores offer us a special deal on our own games.”
Unfortunately, Fortnite and our other games will be leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store in protest of the modern sideloading blocking policy. This change prevents users from installing competing stores, and it’s an issue we fought and won in the US Epic v Google antitrust lawsuit.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 25, 2024
The post specifically mentions the EU- and iOS-exclusive AltStore online store as one of the places Epic Games will be coming soon, adding that it expects to announce support for “at least two other third-party stores” soon. Additionally, Epic is preparing to launch its own Epic Games Store app on Android globally and iOS in the EU soon.
Fortnite, on the other hand, will remove Fortnite and other games from the Samsung Galaxy Store “in protest of Samsung’s anti-competitive decision to block side-loading by default on Samsung Android devices.” This is due to a recent change in modern Samsung phones that blocks app side-loading by default — although users can disable this feature.
This is especially noteworthy considering that Epic and Samsung were already working together in 2019, exclusive themed skin offered in Fortnite to Samsung Galaxy ownersStill, the relationship between the two companies doesn’t appear to be completely broken. In a tweet, CEO Tim Sweeney assured that Epic “will continue to fully and wholeheartedly support Samsung devices now and in the future.”
Epic has long used Fortnite as a key lever in ongoing legal disputes over app store fees and regulation. CEO Tim Sweeney has been a vocal critic of storefronts like the App Store and Google Play, which take a 30% cut of revenue from developers, and has faced multiple legal challenges in efforts to bypass that cut through sideloading and bespoke store apps.
Epic’s battles with the major mobile stores have yielded mixed results for Apple and Google respectively, and further obstacles have emerged with Apple as Epic takes steps to bring its iOS games store to the EU. However, Epic seems steadfast in maintaining as much control as possible over the distribution of its games.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
