The winds of change? As Redmond promised, the Epic Games Store was destined for arrival in the newly refreshed Microsoft Store as one of the first storefronts in the official Windows app repository.
And this store within a store concept has now become a reality.
Epic Games brought its store to Microsoft Store on the launch of Windows 11 on October 4, 2021, meaning you now have a gateway to Fortnite directly from the new experience Microsoft has put together for its modern OS.
Plus, this is just the start, as the software titan has promised other storefronts will be coming as well, alongside other new inclusions like new web browsers that can be downloaded directly with a few targeted clicks.
For example, Opera will be making its way to the Microsoft Store soon.
As for why you would want to download the app from here instead of the official Epic Games website, there are no particular reasons other than convenience and security. That is because its updates will be managed by Epic instead of the Microsoft Store.
But its addition makes sense when you consider that the idea is to make the discovery of the application easier for casual Windows users.
Now, instead of opening a browser and searching for Epic Games Store and installing it that way, or potentially being tricked into downloading a fake version infected with malware, users can simply open the Microsoft Store app and grab the app safely from there.
The way it should have been from the start, some would say!
That said, the big shakeup that pretty much every Windows 11 user is waiting for is the inclusion of Android app support on the platform. This highly anticipated feature was in line to arrive with the new OS, but was delayed along the way.
Work is underway to bring it to Insiders first.
And soon.