Fortnite On Google Play Store Live Now
Eighteen months after its official launch, Epic Games’ Fortnite handheld game has hit the Google Play store, and players can now download the game directly through the Google Play store without having to go specifically to the official website.
Epic says they did this because Google puts third-party software at a disadvantage by warning users of potential security issues that may not exist and characterizing any software not released through the Play Store as malware.
“After 18 months of operating Fortnite on Android outside of the Google Play Store, we’ve come to a basic realization,” reads Epic’s statement. “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.”
For these reasons, Epic says they will now release games through the official Android channel, which means the company will pay Google a 30% draw on all in-app purchases mandated by the Play Store. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been a vocal critic of both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, accusing both platforms of abusing their respective market positions by charging developers too much: “A 30% store tax is a high cost in a world where 70% of game developers must cover all costs of developing, operating and supporting a game.The 30% draw is disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores offer, such as payment processing, download bandwidth and customer service.”
Epic said in a statement, “We hope Google will revise its policy in the near future to allow all developers to freely engage with customers and conduct business transactions on Android and the Play Store on a level playing field through open services, including payment services.”
Epic’s attempt to sell Night of the Fortress through the Play store without paying the standard 30 percent fee was rejected by Google.
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