‘Millions’ of Android devices will now ship with the Epic Games Store pre-installed

Summary

Epic Games has partnered with Spain-based telecommunications giant Telefónica to pre-install the Epic Games Store on millions of Android devices across several European and Latin American countries.
This partnership will make the Epic Games Store more accessible to millions of users, providing them with easier access to popular games like Fortnite, Fall Guys, and Rocket League Sideswipe.
This partnership comes a year after Epic Games’ victory in its antitrust lawsuit against Google.

Late last year, Epic Games won its antitrust lawsuit against Google and its monopolistic Play Store practices. The three-year-long lawsuit ended with a jury finding that Google indeed runs an illegal monopoly via its Google Play Billing service, and as part of the injunction, the tech giant is prohibited from making deals with carriers or device makers to pre-install the Play Store, or, more importantly, prevent the installation of competing app stores on devices until November 1st, 2027.

The landmark decision has far-reaching implications, with Epic now free to partner with OEMs and carriers to have the Epic Games Store preinstalled on devices — and that is exactly what it’s doing.

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As highlighted by Epic Games in a news release (via TechCrunch), it is partnering up with Spain-based carrier Telefónica to make the Epic Games Store accessible on “millions” of Telefónica Android devices. The partnership will materialize in Spain, UK, Germany, and Latin America, bringing easier access to games like Fortnite, Fall Guys, Rocket League Sideswipe, and more with the Epic Games Store pre-installed on devices.

For reference, Telefónica sells smartphones from Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Motorola, Oppo, and more. This comes soon after Epic sued Samsung for its Auto Blocker feature being enabled by default, which, according to Epic, stifles competitors with app stores that need to be sideloaded.

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For what it’s worth, starting off with Telefónica is what makes the most sense. The two companies have a long-standing relationshiop, with Telefónica being the first mobile carrier to introduce Direct Carrier Billing in the Epic Games Store, while Fortnite’s massive in-game O2 arena musical experience was also co-created by the carrier.

What the future of this partnership entails is currently unclear, but Epic did state that “this is just the beginning, and over the next year the companies plan to expand the partnership and bring more benefits to mobile players across the Telefónica network.” This could materialize in the form of exclusive Fortnite skins for devices on Telefónica network, similar to previous exclusive skin offerings via Samsung, Honor, Twitch, PlayStation, Xbox, and more. Only time will tell if Epic can form similar partnerships with other carriers.

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