Epic aiming for up to 50 third-party titles and free games program on mobile store by 2025

Further details have emerged about Epic's plans for its mobile games store, including its aim to offer up to 50 third-party titles and introduce its giveaway program from the PC marketplace by year's end.

MobileGamer.biz reported that Epic Games Store manager Steve Allison shared the news with developers during a roundtable discussion at last week's Unreal Fest 2024. He said he expects between ten and 50 titles to be ready for release on the mobile store during the holiday seasons, with Studio Wildcard's Ark: Ultimate Mobile Edition revealed as the first confirmed third-party game.

Allison also said a free games program will launch in Q4. As with the PC version of Epic Games Store, this will offer players selected games for free in the hopes of driving further adoption of the marketplace.

Self-publishing tools are on course for "probably the first half of the year, hopefully as close to January as possible," according to the exec, and social and party features – such as in-game chat and cross-platform play – are also in the works.

"When all those three things come together, we're off to the races," Allison said.

Last week, Epic announced a reduction in the royalty rate for Unreal Engine games that launch on Epic Games Store before or at the same time as other marketplaces. The company already said this currently only applies to PC, Mac and Android, with MobileGamer.biz now reporting Epic excluded iOS from being a requirement due to Apple's "commerically prohibitive" Core Technology Fee.

iOS support for the initiative is planned at some point, and Epic has promised to give developers at least four months' notice.

Epic Games Store launched on mobile in August, with the company aiming to reach 100 installs across Android and iOS by the end of 2024. It currently offers three of Epic's own games: Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe, and the new Fall Guys Mobile.