Fortnite Is Leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store, But Coming to Other Mobile Storefronts Soon

ign.com:

Epic Games has announced a number of new updates to how Fortnite will be distributed on mobile devices, including its planned removal from the Samsung Galaxy Store and its addition to a number of other mobile storefronts in the near future.

In a blog post today, Epic revealed that it would be bringing its mobile games, including Fortnite, to "other mobile stores that give all developers a great deal" and that it would be "ending distribution partnerships with mobile stores that serve as rent collectors without competing robustly and serving all developers fairly, even if those stores offer us a special deal for our own games."

Sadly, Fortnite and our other games will be leaving the Samsung Galaxy Store in protest of their new policy of blocking side-loading. This change obstructs users from installing competing stores and is an issue we fought and won in the US Epic v Google US antitrust trial.

The post specifically calls out EU and iOS-only storefront AltStore as one of the places Epic Games will soon appear, adding that it expects to announce support for "at least two other third-party stores soon." Additionally, Epic is preparing to bring its own Epic Games Store app to Android globally and iOS in the EU soon.

Conversely, Fortnite will be removing Fortnite and its other games from the Samsung Galaxy Store "in protest of Samsung's anticompetitive decision to block side-loading by default on Samsung Android devices." This is related to a recent change to new Samsung phones which will block sideloading apps by default - though users can turn this function off.

This is especially notable given that way back in 2019, Epic and Samsung were working together, with an exclusive themed skin being offered in Fortnite to Samsung Galaxy owners. That said, relations don't seem to have fully soured between the two companies. In a tweet, CEO Tim Sweeney reassured that Epic will "continue to support Samsung devices fully and wholeheartedly now and in the future."

Epic has long used