Well-known game developer EPIC recently announced a donation to the iOS alternative store AltStorePAL through the EPIC MegaGrant program, which is a compliant third-party app store approved by Apple in the EU market.
According to Apple's regulations, third-party alternative stores need to pay core technology fees and there is no exemption clause. Therefore, every time the store is installed by a user, it needs to pay Apple a core technology fee of 0.5 euros.
In order to make up for the cost of core technology fees and network infrastructure, AltStorePAL charges EU users an annual subscription fee of 1.5 euros/year, which is very cheap and can also cover the operating costs of the store.
Now after receiving EPIC funding, AltStorePAL believes that this funding is not taken for granted, so it decided to directly waive the annual subscription fee for all users, that is, users can download, install, and use it for free.
For users who have paid 1.5 euros to subscribe, there is no need to do anything next, because after expiration, the payment will not be deducted for renewal. For new users, just download and install it directly.
The EPIC MegaGrant program was originally used to support game teams with insufficient funds. This funding for AltStorePAL is quite unexpected, but it is also in line with EPIC's style. After all, EPIC is currently in various lawsuits with Apple.
EPIC will also launch its own game store next, which of course will only be available to users in the European Union (and members of the European Economic Area). AltStorePAL focuses on distributing applications rather than games.
However, neither EPIC nor AltStorePAL disclosed the specific funding amount. Considering that the alternative store may have millions of users, the current exemption of subscription fees means that EPIC's funding amount may also exceed one million US dollars.