Epic Games’ dreams are about to come true. After suing mostly all major players in the mobile market (aka Apple, Google, and Samsung) for monopoly as they didn’t allow the Fortnite maker to apply its own rules on their platform, the company has reached an agreement with Telefónica, one of the largest carriers in the world (via The Verge).
With that, the Epic Games Store will soon be preinstalled on millions of Android smartphones bundled with Telefónica carriers in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Latin America. This agreement is part of a “long-term partnership,” and it will be the first time the Epic Games Store is preinstalled on consumer phones.
After years of fighting Apple and Google in court and accumulating several losses, Epic Games’ effort paid off. A few months after the DMA took effect in Europe, the Epic Games developer’s account was reinstated, and the company can offer Fortnite for iPhone users again.
On the Android platform, Epic Games Store has been back since August, meaning the most famous battle royale can be once again played by millions of smartphone users. With this Telefónica partnership, Epic Games will likely try to win over the time it spent away from mobile due to its own decisions.
Epic Games still wants to take over iPhones again, but it’s already a winner
Even though the Fortnite maker isn’t back to all iPhone users, ever since it started its case against Apple, the Cupertino company had to make several changes to its App Store rules–even though it “won” the judicial battle against Epic.
Since 2020, Apple has reduced how much it charges from developers and subscriptions, it has allowed users to choose new default apps, and in Europe, it now allows third-party app stores, third-party payment systems, and more.
BGR will keep covering these cases, as Epic is still in court with Apple and Google and recently sued Samsung as well.
