What you need to know
- Epic announced that the Epic Games Store will be available on Android later this year.
- Epic says it will bring the same revenue split offered on PC to Android and iOS, where developers keep 88% of revenue, and Epic takes 12% of revenue.
- This significantly undercuts the revenue split offered on the Google Play Store, where some developers only have to pay Google a 15% fee, but high earners could give up as much as 30%.
Epic is bringing the Epic Games Store to Android later this year, it announced during the State of Unreal event at GDC ’24. The move comes after Epic said it would launch an alternative app marketplace on iOS in the European Union. Now, it's confirmed that Android will also be getting the Epic Games Store, though not many details have been finalized yet.
The company is touting the upcoming Epic Games Store for Android as having the "same fair terms" as its desktop game marketplace. Essentially, this claim is based on the revenue split that Epic will offer to developers. The company will take 12% of the revenue from purchases, while developers get to retain 88% of that revenue. Additionally, Epic will allow apps and games to sell in-app purchases via independent methods, where they can keep 100% of earned revenue.
It's important to remember that the Epic Games Store coming to Android is different than the Epic Games Launcher. The latter has been available on Android since 2019, and it allows users to download and update games from Epic, such as Fortnite. However, it will have taken five years for the Epic Games Launcher to be joined by a mobile Epic Games Store.
We’re coming to iOS and Android!Same fair terms, available to all developers, on a true multi-platform store – with amazing games for everyone. pic.twitter.com/TUKlF8PI8AMarch 20, 2024
It's not a secret that Epic plans to use the Epic Games Store to compete with the Google Play Store on Android. Google takes a cut of between 15% and 30% of revenue earned on the Play Store, with the highest-grossing developers paying more. Epic will aim to disrupt this arrangement by giving the same 88/12 split to developers of all sizes. At the same time, this split would undercut the Google Play Store's fees entirely.
Epic also says the Epic Games Store "will become the first ever game-focused, multi-platform store, and will work across Android, iOS, PC, and macOS."
Still, we'll need to wait for more information about the store's features and availability. Though the company included some mockups of what the Epic Games Store might look like on mobile, they are "concepts only."
