After over a year of launching, Battle Royale title Fortnite’s mobile version by Epic Games has finally come to the Google Play Store. The game was so far downloadable as third-party software outside Google’s official source of apps. Epic Games mentions that Google makes it very hard for games and apps to not be available on the Play Store by warning users of numerous potential security issues. Moreover, the Play Store sees any software not issued via its own shelves, including the official Fortnite game, 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,” said Epic Games on bringing Fortnite to the platform.
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Google Play Store to get 30 percent cut of in-game purchases
Releasing Fortnite through the official channel, Epic Games still has another issue. The developers must also now pay Google the 30 percent cut on all in-app purchases made by users. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is one of many vocal figures fighting against the 30 percent cut which he believes is unfair. There are many developers out there critical of both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for charging an extra cut, making use of their leverage in the market.
“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,” said Sweeney back in August 2018. Now, despite launching Fortnite on the Play Store, his thoughts remain the same. “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,” added Sweeney.
