Epic Games Store Users Grow in 2023 Thanks to Fortnite, but Third-Party Sales Dwindle

Update: Well, here’s a weird one – apparently this update accidentally gave players access to Spider-Man 2’s developer debug mode. Insomniac is warning that entering debug mode could corrupt saves, although playing as normal shouldn’t cause an issue (you need to enter a button combination to activate debug mode). Needless to say, Insomniac will likely be patching up this whoopsie soon, but they may have opened up a bit of a Pandora’s box.

Epic Games, the studio behind Fortnite, has announced that Apple terminated its developer account, blocking the company from creating and supporting the Epic Games Store on iOS. For those unfamiliar, Epic Games recently revealed that Apple had approved its Sweden AB developer account, which it had planned to use as a way to bring Fortnite to iOS devices in Europe. However, Apple has terminated this account, with Epic Games criticizing the decision publicly.

Apple has terminated Epic's iOS developer account, putting a big roadblock in front of the studio's plan to bring Fortnite back to iPhones and iPads in Europe. Epic has published some, er, highlights from its correspondence with Apple on the subject, and they're some of the most hilariously spiteful bits of corporate messaging you will ever see.

Fortnite developer Epic Games says that Apple has terminated its Epic Games Sweden AB's developer account, which was intended to release the Epic Games Store and Fortniteon iOS devices in the European Union (EU).

Apple has blocked Epic's bid to launch Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS devices because it doesn't trust the games giant.

Apple and Epic Games have been in an ongoing battle over App Store policies, and now the frenzy has taken a new turn. In a surprising turn of events, Apple has decided to terminate Epic Sweden's developer account globally due to its untrustworthy behavior, calling it a threat to the iOS ecosystem. The company's decision took a U-turn a month after it approved Epic's developer account, and it remains to be seen if the company will comply with the Digital Markets Act.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is one of the more intriguing games on Capcom’s upcoming slate. The relatively-rare new IP from Capcom, the game has certainly caught eyes with its heavily-stylized Japanese-folklore-inspired visuals reminiscent of the fan-favorite Okami, but actual details about the game have been somewhat scant. Well, thankfully, during today’s Xbox Partner Preview showcase, we got a fresh look at Capcom’s upcoming adventure.

2019’s The Sinking City was a solid entry in the growing catalogue of Lovecraft-inspired horror and adventure games, which later became better-known for the bitter legal battle over the game between developer Frogwares and publisher Nacon. Frogwares was ultimately successful in that battle, and today during the latest Xbox Partner Preview showcase, they announced The Sinking City 2 is on the way.

Epic's plans to launch a version of its Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU have stalled after Apple terminated its developer account, calling the company «verifiably untrustworthy» — and the much-trumpeted return of Fortnite to iOS has been impacted too.

“Denial is a river that flows through Cupertino!,” said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, a notorious Apple critic who also sued the tech giant for anticompetitive practices, in a post on X, weighing in on today’s news of the European Commission’s historic €1.84 billion fine against the iPhone maker. The EC ruling, which favors Spotify, hinges on Apple’s approach to its anti-steering clauses that prevented Spotify and other music streamers from directing users to their websites.

Keeping track of all the latest video games coming out is an increasingly complex task, what with multiple PC storefronts, Xbox One, PS4, Switch, mobile, and more to keep track of, but don’t worry, I’m here to help. Every month I'll be running down the games you need to be keeping an eye on, from the big triple-A headliners, to the intriguing indies you might overlook.

Supermassive Games, the UK developer responsible for well-liked narrative horror games like Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology is the latest studio to be hit with the layoff bug afflicting the industry. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, around 90 employees, which represents nearly a third of Supermassive’s 300-strong staff, have been laid off. Supermassive themselves acknowledged the layoffs via the following statement…