Image courtesy of Epic Games
Epic Games finally caved and brought Fortnite to the Google Play Store, but they aren't exactly pleased with it. When the game launched on mobile in 2018, the developer notably sidestepped the Play Store and asked users to download the title right from its website to avoid Google's substantial 30% revenue cut from in-app purchases of Play Store downloads. And with Fortnite being a popular free-to-play game when it launched, it would have lost significant income from the game.
After 18 months of the company's harsh rhetoric when it comes to Google's gatekeeping, Fortnite is on the Play Store, while also still available through fortnite.com.
"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," an Epic Games spokesperson said in a statement. "Because of this, we've launched Fortnite for Android on the Google Play Store."
Epic Games is hoping the company reconsiders its policies moving forward. The company's statement further read, "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."
Putting Fortnite on the Play Store now is Epic Games' way to get those players who couldn't or wouldn't download outside of Google's official app store before.
Source: Engadget + TechCrunch