Has Epic's mobile Games Store been worth the fight?

Read on for every story we posted this week, plus how Epic's court battles helped break open the app store ecosystem – but perhaps not in the way the Fortnite maker intended.

---

Hello, I’m Neil, I run mobilegamer.biz. Thanks for subscribing to this newsletter.

Free subs get every story we posted this week at-a-glance, below. Paid subscribers get a punchy editorial about a big talking point – this week, it’s about Epic’s mobile Games Store.

To read the editorial, or if you just want to support the work I do, stick a paid sub on expenses here:

And thanks again to those of you who have already registered interest in more Off The Record gatherings.

There are now plans afoot for – potentially – five more events this year, and not just in the UK. If you want to be involved, hit reply to this email and tell me if you’d like to sponsor or speak at the next one.

---

This week’s stories:

New game digest: Valorant, Once Human, Delta Force, Street Fighter, Game Freak’s new title, more

There's also this week's Epic Games Store freebies, a couple more AppLovin soft launches and more in this week's round-up.

Clue is Hasbro’s next big mobile game – and Ace Games is launching it this year

Hasbro's second-biggest board game after Monopoly is also getting the mobile game treatment, we're told. And our sources say Fiona's Farm maker Ace Games is launching it this year.

Epic weighs in after Apple is fined €500m for DMA breach

“Apple’s pattern of malicious compliance must end” says the Fortnite maker after the European Commission says Apple’s App Store is breaking the law.

Data digest: Whiteout Survival and Block Blast lead March charts, game VC stats, Meme Bots, Minecraft, more

This week's need-to-know numbers digested.

Miniclip boss Choudri reveals showdown with Riccitiello over Unity’s “insane” Runtime Fee

“He didn’t really understand how the mobile ecosystem worked,” Choudri told The Information. “That’s what forced him to have to fall on his sword.”

FunPlus on what western developers can learn from China

Bizdev VP Bob Slinn explains how DC Dark Legion combines Western IP with its Chinese studios’ 4X strategy expertise – and what the rest of us can take from it.

Jobs digest: moves at Zynga, TikTok, Twitch, Supercell, Epic, Aonic, Apple and more

There are also new appointments at King, AppLovin, FunPlus, Appmagic, Goodville, Mistplay, Appcharge, Voodoo, Rollic and more in our latest round-up.

---

Has Epic's mobile Games Store been worth the fight?

Court battles with Apple and Google helped break open the app store ecosystem – but perhaps not in the way Epic intended.

Remember the Digital Markets Act? I kind of forgot about it too until this week, when the European Commission hit Apple with a €500m fine for not complying with it.

Of course, Epic quickly steamed in to register its disgust with Apple’s behaviour, which always makes for good copy. And all that, in turn, reminded me that yes, the mobile Epic Games Store also still exists. So how is it doing?