Epic Games will give away even more games: this is their plan to win over mobile players and steer them away from Google Play Store and Apple's App Store

To gain ground against Steam and other companies on PC, Epic Games used a simple and effective strategy: giving away lots of games through the Epic Games Store. Now, the Fortnite company is preparing to compete with Google and Apple in the mobile device space and, unsurprisingly, will repeat its plan.

Steve Allison, General Manager of the Epic Games Store, confirmed that they will soon start giving away games in their mobile-specific store. This way, they aim to attract iOS and Android users and gradually steer them away from Apple's App Store and Google Play Store.

Epic Games will win over mobile players with giveaways

The Epic Games Store has grown significantly in recent years amid successes and a few controversies. The store has been consistent in one aspect: the free games that arrive weekly and, sometimes, turn into daily gifts during special seasons.

This strategy has worked well for Epic Games, as it keeps PC players coming back to their store to claim the games and later use their services to enjoy them.

Now that the Epic Games Store has come to mobile after a legal battle against Apple and Google, the developer will repeat the strategy and also start giving away games for these devices. There is no exact date yet, but we know that free titles will begin to arrive between October and December.

"The free games programme will launch in Q4 along with the [first] third-party apps showing up, and we're gonna have some awesome stuff for players that will also be awesome for developers because it'll help us scale really quickly," said Allison.

With this, the company wants to attract players' attention and make them realize that the Epic Games Store is a great alternative to Google Play Store or Apple's App Store. This is how they plan to gain market share and build a stronger community.

The executive explained that by the holiday season, their mobile store will feature between 10 and 50 third-party apps. One of the first confirmed is ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition. As for the free games, it's unknown which titles will be the first in the program.

Finally, Epic Games announced a self-publishing strategy for mobile games, where they will offer developers higher percentages of game sales and in-game purchases. Additionally, the company is willing to waive its commission for 6 months if studios bring their games to the store exclusively during the same period.