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Epic\u2019s game store is finally on mobile<\/a>. Next up, the company plans to add features that make people want to use it \u2014 on both mobile and<\/em> PC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A key thing Epic Games wants to introduce is what store boss Steve Allison calls a \u201csocial framework\u201d \u2014 think the types of social and chat features you see on consoles or Steam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOur social features on PC suck,\u201d Allison says in an interview with The Verge<\/em>. \u201cLet\u2019s call it what it is.\u201d Social features are the \u201cbattery that powers Fortnite<\/em>,\u201d Allison says, and Epic wants to \u201ctake that battle-tested social framework and move it up from Fortnite<\/em> up to the store level.\u201d The idea is that you\u2019ll be able to party up and chat with your Epic Games friends across devices, theoretically meaning that friends on Android, iOS, and PC could all hang out through the Epic Games platform (not just Fortnite<\/em>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We might be waiting a while to try the social features out, though, as Allison says they won\u2019t arrive until at least after summer 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n More immediately, Epic is planning to bring its free games program to mobile sometime in the fourth quarter (which, if you\u2019re watching the calendar, is this quarter!). Unlike on PC, free mobile games may not be offered weekly to start, though they\u2019ll probably move to weekly <\/strong>once Epic launches tools to self-publish on its mobile store. (That feature will probably launch in the first half of 2025, Allison said in a Tuesday panel at Unreal Fest<\/a>.) Some free games might only be available on Android because of Apple\u2019s core technology fee, which could sting developers<\/a> with costs they may not be able to pay.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Third-party games are set to appear in the mobile Epic Games Store in the fourth quarter as well (Allison has previously pegged the launch for December). During the Unreal Fest panel, Allison said that Epic aims to have 10 to 50 games available at launch. Yes, that\u2019s a broad range, and Allison tells The Verge<\/em> that the big \u201cgating factor\u201d is implementing payments. Since most mobile developers rely on Google or Apple\u2019s payment processing platforms, they have to evaluate using Epic\u2019s payment processing platforms or others. During the Unreal Fest keynote, though, Epic shared one game coming to its mobile stores: ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Epic seems to be seeing forward momentum with the store overall, announcing during the keynote that it hit a record 70 million monthly active users<\/a> in September. However, given the roadblocks Apple and Android phone makers put up to installing third-party stores on their mobile platforms, Epic isn\u2019t seeing the volume of mobile store installs it had hoped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the launch of the mobile stores in August<\/a>, Allison said that Epic was aiming for 100 million net new Epic Games Store mobile installations by the end of the year, but Sweeney said recently<\/a> that there have only been 10 million mobile installs. Allison believes that the new features coming in the fourth quarter could encourage more users to push through the friction. But he adds that, with the friction, getting to that 100 million installs by the end of the year \u201cis likely impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n