Fortnite is currently slated to release on Android devices sometime this summer, but when it does finally arrive, it will not be through the Google Play store. Rather, users will have to download the Fortnite Installer directly from the Epic Games website. Once downloaded, the Fortnite icon will be used to launch and update the game.
The move is part of Epic's goal to "bring its games directly to customers," as the developer believes "gamers will benefit from competition among software sources on Android Competition among services gives consumers lots of great choices and enables the best to succeed based on merit."
"Epic wants to have a direct relationship with our customers on all platforms where that's possible," Epic CEO Tim Sweeny explained as one of the advantages for Epic Games in skipping out on the Google Play store. "The great thing about the Internet and the digital revolution is that this is possible, now that physical storefronts and middlemen distributors are no longer required.
"Economic efficiency" is also driving Epic's decision as the developer will avoid paying Google a 30 percent cut of all revenue generated from the game by not releasing through the Google Play store.
Sweeney explained, "The 30 percent store tax is a high cost in a world where game developers' 70 percent must cover all the cost of developing, operating, and supporting their games. There's a rationale for this on console where there's enormous investment in hardware, often sold below cost, and marketing campaigns in broad partnership with publishers. But on open platforms, 30 percent is disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service."
Sweeney referenced the company's familiarity with these costs from their experience of running Fortnite as a direct-to-customer service on PC and Mac. Whereas most games opt to release through Steam on PC, Epic has bypassed the popular service and instead has its own launcher and account system. Like open PC platforms, Epic feels confident their strategy on Android will be "similar successful," despite the growing number of Android APK scams related to Fortnite. Sweeney encourages Android users to look carefully at the source of the software before installing anything.
Fortnite will release on Android this year; however, the game will require a recent high-end Android smartphone. The developer estimates that of the roughly 2,500,000,000 Android devices, only 250,000,000 are actually Fortnite-ready. Specific details regarding supported phones and models will hopefully be provided soon.