The world’s biggest game is coming for Apple and Google’s app stores

The Epic Games Inc. Fortnite: Battle Royale video game is seen in the App Store on an Apple Inc. iPhone displayed for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 10, 2018. Fortnite, the hit game that's denting the stock prices of video-game makers after signing up 45 million players, didn't really take off until it became free and a free-for-all. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Epic Games Inc, maker of the monster hit Fortnite, announced a new online store this week that could eventually put pressure on Apple and Google to relinquish some control over their own app stores. 

Epic’s new store will charge developers a commission of just 12%, less than half of what Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s app stores do. The audacious move could prompt app developers of all kinds to demand a similar deal, Benjamin Schachter, an analyst with Macquarie Capital, said in a note to clients Dec 4.