Many of the best games for mobile phones are indie PC ports. With the arrival of the Epic Game Store for Android devices, we’ll hopefully see even more!
The Epic Games Store Already Exists for PCs
Before the Epic Games Store came to phones, it first appeared on PCs as a competitor to Steam. While it has nowhere near the presence that Steam has, it still has a sizable game library. The competition has been a win for PC gamers, even if Epic’s freebies aren’t what they used to be.
Many of the games on sale are AAA hits. Others are indie darlings. In either case, they would be welcome additions on phones.
Epic Can Incentivize Developers to Port Their Games
The mobile Epic Games Store is pretty spartan. Epic needs to attract game developers, offering them reason to release their games on a third-party marketplace instead of, or in addition to, the Play Store.
While part of this work involves getting the attention of mobile game developers who have never worked with Epic before, the company’s PC store is already packed with titles whose creators have worked with Epic and may be willing to do so again.
If Epic’s various lawsuits against Apple and Google have shown us anything, it’s that Epic has enough cash on hand to offer developers direct financial compensation for porting their games over. There is already a precedent for this on mobile. Apple has paid studios ranging from Sega to Supergiant Games to develop or port games to Apple Arcade exclusively. This is why iPhones and iPads can play Hades but Android phones and tablets can’t. Likewise, Netflix paid for Monument Valley 3 to be a game that requires a Netflix subscription.
Epic Can Provide Visibility
Many smaller developers are looking for any way to break through and get their games in front of gamers. The Play Store has failed at this part of its job. Google’s marketplace is packed with stellar mobile games, but you wouldn’t know from visiting the store’s games tab. Most of these great games languish largely invisible to anyone except those who explicitly search for them.
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The Epic Games Store is currently tiny, so any game that enters will likely be seen by anyone browsing through the store. And if Epic continues to exercise taste and curates the store toward premium games where you pay upfront, then its marketplace can be the place where such games get to shine in the spotlight rather than play second fiddle to free-to-play titles packed with ads and exploitative microtransactions.
Many PC Games Adapt Well to Mobile Devices
Porting certain types of console games to mobile requires the use of virtual controls. While I no longer view touch controls as inherently bad, many PC titles have an easier transition. A mouse isn’t all that different from a touchpad.
This is why certain genres that previously thrived on PCs have found a home on mobile devices. Point-and-click adventure games make natural sense on a touchpad. So do many types of puzzle games. Balatro, a card game, may have sold gangbusters on PCs, but it arguably is an even better fit for a phone. I’ve played Slay the Spire on my Galaxy Z Fold 6, and I much rather play the game this way than exclusively in front of a PC monitor.
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If you think mobile games lack the horsepower, that’s only the case for the most demanding games. As a general rule, indie titles absolutely fly on mobile hardware. Older games could likely play just fine, especially considering they can render at a lower resolution on snaller screens and still look fine. The GPU in a modern Qualcomm chip is far more capable than that in the original Nintendo Switch. The type of SSD in phones is much faster as well.
Many Games Ported in the Past Could Be Brought Back to Life
Many PC titles already made their way to Android in the past and have quietly slipped away. This is unfortunately an all-too-common fate for mobile games. They work for one version of Android, then brake when the next version of Android requires the developer to come back and update their game. If it wasn’t that profitable, why make the effort?
Sometimes these games technically still work, and it’s only changes in Play Store requirements that cause them to disappear. Epic can offer these games another home and a chance at a longer life.
Personally, I’d be willing to pay someone a subscription fee just to find a way to keep paying old Android games that no longer work. Square Enix titles like Chaos Rings, Final Fantasy IX, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles pain me that I can’t play when at least two of the games top listicles from just a few years ago.
While I’m admittedly blown away by how good NVIDIA GeForce NOW is, I still prefer native games. I hope Epic helps improve the situation for us Android gamers. I’ve already bought a few games from the Epic Store, in addition to the free ones, and I look forward to buying more.
