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CEO Tim Sweeney said Epic’s mobile games will be leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store in protest at their new policy of ‘blocking sideloading by default’.
Epic Games has confirmed that its popular Fortnite video game will be returning to iOS devices in the EU soon.
In a strategy update posted on its website yesterday (25 July), Epic said that its mobile games, including Fortnite, will be added to third-party app stores such as AltStore on iOS devices in the EU amid a long legal battle with Apple.
This means Fortnite and other Epic games will be available not only on its soon-to-launch Epic Games Store for mobile but also independent mobile stores “that give all developers a fair deal”.
The gaming giant said that these games will, however, be leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store in protest against their new policy of “blocking sideloading by default”. [In this case, sideloading refers to the installation of apps obtained from a third-party source rather than an official retailer]. Samsung users now have to go into their settings to turn off the Auto Blocker option.
Epic claimed the change obstructs users from installing competing stores, an issue Epic fought and won in an antitrust settlement with Google last year.
Epic said that the decision to pull its games from the Samsung Galaxy Store comes in the context of its advocacy for the rights of stores to “exist and compete fairly” on iOS and Android.
“Progress is spreading across the globe, in the form of Europe’s DMA, similar laws in the UK and Japan, regulatory investigations around the world, and victory in the Epic v Google litigation in the US,” Epic wrote in its statement.
“As operators of the Epic Games Store, we’ll take advantage of this opportunity to bring all developers a great deal on our store. And as game developers ourselves, we want to do everything we can to support other stores that strive to bring all developers their own great deals.”
Earlier this month, Epic Games said Apple approved its app store submission for iOS devices after initially rejecting it. Epic had previously criticised Apple of unfairly blocking its attempts to launch a dedicated Epic Games Store for iOS devices.
The video game maker has been in a very public battle with Apple for years, criticising the tech giant for how it handles its App Store.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been an outspoken critic of Apple’s attempts to comply with the Digital Markets Act, which aims to crack down on anticompetitive behaviour among Big Tech companies. In January, he said that proposals made by Apple to comply with the EU rules were “a devious new instance of malicious compliance”.
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