Fortnite is finally available on Google Play Store and users can download and play Epic Games’ battle royale hit now on their Android devices.
The game which was initially released on computers was made available on Android and iOS devices by 2018. Till now, Android users had to download Fortnite from the Epic Games website.
Since Fortnite‘s launch on Android back in August of 2018, Epic Games has skirted Google’s mobile storefront by making its staggeringly popular battle-royale shooter downloadable exclusively as third-party software, meaning it’s been unavailable through the Play Store marketplace. Epic Games has issued harsh words about digital storefront monopolies in the past, with company CEO Tim Sweeney once citing the 30per cent cut of revenue taken by Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store as “illegal” in a statement. He accused both platforms by abusing their respective market positions to charge developers more than necessary.
“After 18 months of operating Fortnite on Android outside of the Google Play Store, we’ve come to a basic realisation: Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage, through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings, Google public relations characterizing third party software sources as malware, and new efforts such as Google Play Protect to outright block software obtained outside the Google Play Store. Because of this, we’ve launched Fortnite for Android on the Google Play Store. We hope that Google will revise its policies and business dealings in the near future, so that all developers are free to reach and engage in commerce with customers on Android and in the Play Store through open services, including payment services, that can compete on a level playing field,” reads the statement.
Earlier Fortnite had revealed they are gearing up for a virtual music festival with Travis Scott. As per Fortnite, the Grammy-nominated performer is going on a ‘virtual tour’ of Fortnite performances for gamers across the world. He will also be premiering his new track Astronomical during the tour.
For all these reasons, Epic says it’s now going to release the game through an official Android channel, which means the company will now pay Google the 30 per cent cut mandated by the Play Store for all in-app purchases.