Epic is targeting the inclusion of up to 50 third-party titles and a free games initiative in its mobile store by 2025

Epic is advancing its strategy for its mobile games platform, targeting the integration of up to 50 external games and the adaptation of its PC game's giveaway strategy by the close of the year.

During a developer roundtable at Unreal Fest 2024, Epic Games Store lead Steve Allison provided insights into their progress, as reported by MobileGamer.biz. He anticipated that between 10 and 50 games would be available on the mobile store ahead of the festive period and cited Ark: Ultimate Mobile Edition from Studio Wildcard as the inaugural third-party offering.

A free games initiative is set to commence in the fourth quarter, mirroring Epic Games Store's PC strategy, to attract more users to this new digital space.

Tools for self-publishing are expected to roll out in "probably the first half of the year, hopefully as close to January as possible," and features for social interaction and party functionalities, including in-game chat and cross-platform capabilities, are being developed.

"Once these key elements are in place, we're ready to accelerate," commented Allison.

In a recent announcement, Epic revealed a reduction in royalty rates for Unreal Engine titles that debut on its store concurrently with or before other platforms. However, this now pertains solely to PC, Mac, and Android as they omitted iOS due to Apple's "commercially prohibitive" Core Technology Fee, as noted by MobileGamer.biz.

Plans to include iOS in this venture are underway, with Epic pledging to provide developers a minimum of four months' lead time.

Epic Games Store became available on mobile devices in August, aspiring to reach 100 installations on Android and iOS by the end of 2024, currently featuring Epic's titles such as Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe, and the new Fall Guys Mobile.