Just one day after third-party app stores became officially available on the iPad in the European Union, Epic Games announced via X that the Epic Games Store is now installable on iPadOS. However, only residents of EU countries with an Apple account registered in one of those countries can install it.
This development follows the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which introduces rules promoting market fairness and competition. Over the past year, the EU Commission has labeled certain entities as "gatekeepers" that manage essential platform services. iPadOS, the operating system of the iPad, was recently added to this list of regulated platforms.
As a result of this classification, Apple had a six-month window to modify iPadOS, enabling users in the EU to install alternative app stores. Last Friday, Apple confirmed that this would be possible with the release of iPadOS 18.
It seems Epic Games was ready for this opportunity, as it launched its game store for the iPad just one day after iPadOS 18 became available. Epic Games had already introduced its store on iOS, where third-party app stores have been allowed for some time, also due to the DMA regulations.
The iPad version of the Epic Games Store is much like the iOS version. It can be downloaded from Epic’s website, and after installation, iPad users can access games like Fall Guys, Fortnite, and Rocket League Sideswipe, which are available at launch. These games are optimized for full-screen play on the iPad.
When Epic Games first launched its store on iOS, the company stated that it planned to collaborate with other game developers to allow them to release games on iOS and iPadOS outside of Apple’s App Store. However, no updates have been made on this front, suggesting this effort is still in progress.